President Donald Ramotar attended the Fifth Summit between CARICOM and Cuba held in Havana, Cuba on December 8, 2014.
In his intervention on the discussions relating to CARICOM-Cuba cooperation, President Ramotar expressed his sincere appreciation to His Excellency Raul Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba for the remarkable contribution which Cuba has been making to the development of the Region. He recognized the important role which Cuba has played in the development of human capital particularly in medicine, engineering and other fields critical to the social and economic progress of the peoples of the Caribbean Community and the Caribbean region as a whole. In this regard, referring to the announcement made by Cuba that the Government will increase the numbers of scholarships for graduate and postgraduate studies, President Ramotar thanked President Castro for this continued assistance.
President Ramotar said that the strong foundation of cooperation had indeed justified the decision taken forty two years ago to establish relations with Cuba – a decision which was the culmination of other related actions, in particular the role of the people of British Guiana as it was then, in breaking the blockade to trade with Cuba. In this regard, President Ramotar recalled the constant advocacy of former President Cheddi Jagan during those times to engage with Cuba and to contribute to the building of the foundation of the relationship with the Caribbean and Cuba.
President Ramotar further paid tribute to the brave and valuable role which Cuba played in the liberation struggle of the African countries.
Touching on future areas of cooperation, President Ramotar said that the existing relationship allows the countries of CARICOM and Cuba to build more regional research centres that would allow them to make independent discoveries in science and technology.
While much work has been done in the social field, another area of collaboration was that of agriculture. Referring to the food import bill of the countries of the Caribbean Community being approximately four billion dollars, if Cuba was added that would increase to more than five billion dollars, it was necessary to pursue together, building on the Jagdeo Initiative for agriculture and using the National Institutes in the Member States and that of Cuba, means to become more independent in terms of food security.
Energy cooperation was also another area proposed by President Ramotar in which CARICOM and Cuba could cooperate towards affordable energy for development.
President Ramotar assured President Castro that Guyana was happy to cooperate with Cuba and the rest of the Member States of the Caribbean Community in the setting up in Guyana of the Regional Centre for the Treatment of Physical Disabilities.
Acknowledging the importance to enhance the trading relations among the countries of CARICOM and Cuba, President Ramotar committed to working with the rest of CARICOM and Cuba for the signing and early implementation of the Second Additional Protocol to the Agreement for Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Noting that the sugar industry plays a central role in the history of the countries of the Caribbean and recalling Cuba’s offer to assist the countries of CARICOM in this sector, President Ramotar recognized the vast experience of Cuba in the development of its sugar industry and its successful innovations; in this regard he offered Guyana’s willingness to benefit from Cuba’s expertise in the development of Guyana’s sugar industry.
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