The newly-appointed Slovenian Ambassador to Caricom His Excellency Bozo Cerar yesterday presented his credentials to Caricom Secretary General Irwin LaRocque, who identified the post-2015 development agenda, the ongoing global climate change negotiations and the fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as key areas for potential cooperation.
“Each of these issues is of paramount importance to Caricom. In fact they are, for us survival issues affecting how and if our children will inherit a quality of life that meets their expectations,” Secretary General LaRocque was quoted as saying in a Caricom Secretariat statement issued yesterday after the ceremony.
The ceremony was held at the Caricom Secretariat at Turkeyen.
Other areas of technical cooperation mentioned by LaRocque were education and training, people-to-people contact, cultural exchange, tourism and trade, according to the statement. He was also reported as saying that he was convinced that the scope existed for action to be pursued in those areas and that a framework cooperation agreement in that regard would enable the implementation of programmes that positively impact people’s lives.
The Secretariat also reported that LaRocque also sought Slovenia’s support in advocating for Caricom regarding graduation in the EU development policy. He said he was sure Slovenia understood the vulnerabilities of small states and would advocate on the community’s behalf in the councils of the European Union with respect to how the policy of “graduating” middle income countries is applied.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Cerar, in his remarks, said his country was determined to deepen bilateral cooperation in areas where it has proven its value. He said Slovenia would continue to contribute to the efforts of the international community with humanitarian relief when facing disasters in the Caribbean.
He also said there were numerous possibilities for the expansion and deepening of the relationship between Caricom and Slovenia. “I am determined to working towards the advancement of these goals to the mutual benefit of Slovenia and the Caribbean Community,” he was quoted as saying. “It is our belief that free movement of goods goes hand in hand with free movement of people. For this reason Slovenia advocates an EU visa liberalization regime for the OECS (Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States) countries that still do not have a visa free regime, that should benefit both sides and its people,” he added.
