says President Ali
  first summit hailed as success

PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali stated on Thursday that the recently concluded Canada-CARICOM summit achieved success by significantly enhancing the partnership between Canada and the Caribbean.ZZZ

Dr Ali made these remarks during the closing press conference for the first-ever Canada-CARICOM summit which occurred in Ottawa, Canada and saw leaders from the Caribbean region and Canada coming together to discuss areas of collaboration and fostering a deeper partnership.
According to President Ali, a lot of time was spent during the duration of the summit, creating a framework and ecosystem to support investment partnerships with the private sectors of both parties.

Issues discussed, he noted, included the enabling of a policy environment that will support the aspirations of both CARICOM and Canada.
Added to this, the Head of State said that leaders discussed supporting mechanisms that Canada can help the Region with in relation to creating an environment that will support financial-system reforms, the climate agenda and the upcoming COP 28.
In addition, conversations revolved around the progression of shared priorities such as food security, development, regional transport and logistics, and improved facilitation of movement between CARICOM and Canada.

“This summit definitely built our trust, deepened our friendship and expanded relationships,” President Ali affirmed, even as he noted that one of the important aspects of the summit was the involvement of the private sector.
Meanwhile, also delivering remarks at the closing press conference was the Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who stated that the summit was used as an opportunity to launch the new strategic partnership between Canada and CARICOM
Trudeau added, “This is going to make our relationship stronger and it’s going to help us work on our shared priorities.”
He stated that the three-day summit was a successful one which developed a concrete plan of action to continue to harness the opportunities and potential of the friendship between Canada and the Caribbean and the mutual interest in moving forward in the right way together.

Against this backdrop, he indicated that the ties between Canadian and Caribbean communities, businesses and people run deep.
Trudeau revealed that many priority areas were focused on which included fighting climate change, and how protecting the environment is good for the global economy.
“I announced a new commitment of up to $58.5 million in partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank to support renewable energy projects in the Region and $6 million through the Caribbean Climate Smart fund,” he said.

Against this backdrop, he stated that clean, reliable and affordable energy is a great example of how climate action and economic growth must go together.
Added to this, Trudeau stated that there were also discussions on increasing the resilience of countries with respect to natural disasters, which have become stronger and more frequent as a result of climate change.

As such, an announcement was made which will see the enhancement of coordination between the Canadian Armed Forces and the Caribbean Disaster Management Agency to be able to react quickly to natural disasters.

“We need to work together as partners to build a more stable, secure and prosperous hemisphere,” Trudeau said.