Press Releases

Port of Spain (September 16, 2010) – The Secretariat of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) welcomed His Excellency Ambassador Ezzat Saad, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, who paid a courtesy call to the Secretary General, Ambassador Luis Fernando Andrade Falla on 15 September 2010.

Vice Minister Saad was on official mission to Trinidad and Tobago, and took the opportunity to meet with Secretary General Andrade in an effort to further deepen ties between the Association and Egypt, an ACS Observer Country. The Vice Minister was accompanied by His Excellency Ambassador Ali Saleh Mourad, Ambassador of Egypt to Trinidad & Tobago.

Also in attendance were ACS Director of Sustainable Tourism, Ms Gloria de Mees, Director of Trade, Ms Ariadna Pérez and Director of Transport & Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Eduardo González.

The Vice Minister commenced the meeting with an expression of Egypt’s interest in further developing bilateral relations with the ACS and building cooperation in the Greater Caribbean region. He also indicated that his government was interested in establishing multilateral relations among the Arab League (with headquarters in Cairo), the ACS and other regional organisations.

The Secretary General welcomed the Vice Minister and took the opportunity to provide him with a review of the ACS agenda, structure and major achievements in the focal areas: Disaster Risk Reduction, Transport, Tourism, Trade and the protection & management of the Caribbean Sea.

Ambassador Andrade highlighted several of the recent and upcoming ACS meetings and events including the Caribbean Sea Commission Expert Consultation (Barbados, July 2010), Meeting for the Establishment of the Association of Caribbean Cruise Ship Destinations (Guatemala, September 2010), 18th Special Committee Disasters Risk Reduction (Dominican Republic, September 2010), 11th Business Forum of the Greater Caribbean (Colombia, November 2010).

The Secretary General thanked the Vice Minister for his visit which facilitated an exchange of ideas and the sharing of experiences in areas of common interest, thereby representing the groundwork for strengthening ties between the ACS and Egypt. Vice Minister Saad concluded the meeting by extending an invitation to the Secretary General to visit Egypt in order to discuss opportunities for cooperation.