Port of Spain (March 29, 2011) – The Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Ambassador Luis Fernando Andrade Falla, made an official visit to the Headquarters of the Embassy of Spain in Port of Spain, during which he met with the Ambassador, His Excellency Joaquín de Arístegui. Ambassador Andrade was accompanied by the Sustainable Tourism Director of the ACS, Ms. Gloria de Mees, the ACS Advisor for Disaster Risk Reduction and Transport, Mr. Mathieu Fontanaud and the ACS Trade Research Assistant, Ms. Daniela Martínez.

Ambassador Joaquín de Arístegui and his team hosted this bilateral meeting at which the ACS Secretariat, led by the Secretary General, Ambassador Andrade Falla, took this opportunity to provide Ambassador Arístegui with updated information regarding programmes and projects in the focal areas of the ACS: Sustainable Tourism, Trade, Transport, Disaster Risk Reduction and the Caribbean Sea Commission.

Similarly, the Spanish Ambassador expressed his Government’s interest in evaluating different types of co-operation with the ACS. This bilateral meeting is the start of a process of exchanges between both parties, geared toward deepening Spain’s relationship in its capacity as an observer country of the ACS.

It was agreed that they would meet again at the ACS headquarters in May to assess specific project proposals and to underscore Spain’s interest in the Association of Caribbean States.

Spain is an Observer Country of the ACS. The Observer Countries of the Association include: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, India, Italy, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Korea, Morocco, Peru, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.