The opening of a Caribbean Office in Kenya will signal the Caribbean’s commitment to the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group and ensure the ACP work for all of its people.
This is the message that Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minster of Barbados and representative of Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Forum of African, Pacific and Caribbean States (CARIFORUM) will bring to her counterparts at the Ninth ACP Summit of Heads of State and Government in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Summit will take place from December 9 to 10 under the theme “A Transformed ACP: Committed to Multilateralism”.
Since the Eighth Summit in Papua New Guinea, significant developments have taken place that are reshaping the engagements between ACP Member States and the wider world. These changes require the ACP Group to redefine its position and role with its traditional and potential development partners both internationally and regionally.
The 79-member ACP Group will endorse the outcome of the negotiations for a new 20-year ACP-European Union Partnership Agreement as well as consider and adopt the revisions to the ACP’s Constitutive Act, the Georgetown Agreement. The leaders will also address the way in which the Group redefines its vision and role to advance multilateralism and the ACP’s institutional structures to achieve sustainable development through Agenda 2030.
After the Summit, Mottley will spend two days in Kenya as part of a reciprocal official visit and will engage in bilateral talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta on several areas identified for cooperation during his visit to Barbados in August 2019.
It is expected that there will be a number of agreements signed, including the Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement, a Bilateral Investment Treaty and a Memorandum of Understanding on Health and Environment. (PR/SAT)
