A Haitian delegation led by Mario Dupuy, Minister of Culture arrived Sunday in St. John's (Antigua), for a working session of two days aimed at the implementation of the two memorandum of understanding, signed Tuesday, December 9, 2012 in Haiti, between the Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda, Dr. Winston Baldwin Spencer and the President Martelly.

Recall that these two protocols were designed to promote and develop bilateral cooperation particularly in the following areas :

• Tourism and related services including sports and agro-tourism

• Hospitality training

• Cultural development through the organization of an annual music festival and exhibition of arts and crafts alternately in the two countries

• Education, including language training and exchange programs

• Agriculture and services trade, including cooperation in the areas related to sanitary and phytosanitary measures

• Maritime services

• Export promotion for small and medium businesses

• Commerce et l’investissement

• Infrastructure improvements

• Construction

• Implementation of the EPA through collaboration between the relevant national authorities.

"We are willing and ready to work," declared at the opening of the meeting, Jean-Edner Nelson, Haiti's National Authorising Officer for the European Development Fund, member of the delegation "The idea is to operationalise the MOU as soon as possible so that both parties can participate in it."

The Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer gave the assurance at the start of discussions, on the implementation of the agreements signed with Haiti "We strongly believe that a lot more can be achieved by more bilateral engagements [...] I can see something developing whereby we will be able to supply to Haiti a lot of individuals who have abilities [...] there are tremendous possibilities here for both our countries [...]" stressing that the two countries can exploit the benefits of tourism and commerce.

The Minister Dupuy declared that the states of the region must speak with one voice "It is a necessity today that all countries of the region have one voice, one message so that the voice of the region be heard all over the world. The challenges are huge because in this globalised world it's no longer profitable for each country to defend its own interest but to look at the interest of the whole group."

During the meeting, representatives of the Contractors Association, the Association of Architects and the Association of Engineers, gave a presentation on the areas of cooperation in the reconstruction efforts in Haiti.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-7443-haiti-diplomacy-signature-of-2-cooperation-agreements-with-antigua-barbuda.html

HL/ HaitiLibre