Finland to increase input in development cooperation in the Caribbean

Press release 246/2009
24 September 2009

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen has granted 300,000 euros in assistance to the CARICOM Development Fund. Support to the development fund is part of Finland’s growing development cooperation in the Caribbean.

The purpose of the fund, established in 2008, is to strengthen the international position of the Caribbean Community and to promote the region’s integration. The fund supports the region’s economic and social stability, competitiveness and diversification of exports.

Finland’s support will be targeted at sustainable development projects of the region’s poorest countries. Contribution to the development fund also promotes aid for trade objectives, which is a central instrument of Finland’s development policy. Finland’s cooperation in the Caribbean focuses especially on themes linked with climate change, such as meteorology, sustainable use of natural resources, energy and environmental issues as well as support for regional integration.

Finland intends to announce this grant decision at the Meeting of CARICOM Foreign Ministers that will be held in New York, in connection with the UN General Assembly, on 25 September.

The Caribbean Community, CARICOM, was founded in 1973 to promote economic and political cooperation among its members. The Community also strives to coordinate its members’ foreign policy. The Community members are Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat (a British territory), St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The CARICOM Secretariat is located in Guyana and the headquarters of the development fund in Barbados.

Additional information: Päivi Nevala, Adviser to Minister Väyrynen, tel. +358 9 160 56171, and Counsellor Kimmo Pulkkinen, tel. +358 40 578 4344