Port of Spain (September 17, 2012) – The Association of Caribbean States (ACS), through the Directorate of Transport will convene the 21st Meeting of the Special Committee on Transport at its Headquarters in Port of Spain, on September 20th and 21st.

The Secretary General of the ACS, H.E. Alfonso Múnera Cavadía, and the Director of Transport. Mr. Eduardo Gonzalez, will make welcoming remarks during the opening ceremony of the meeting which will be chaired by Ing. Pedro Suárez Reyes, Director of Affairs for the Ministry of Transport of Cuba. Also in attendance will be regional experts and representatives such as the Head of Internationals and Regulatory Affairs of Civil Aviation of Colombia, Mrs. Claudia Esguerra, and the Director of Ports and Maritime Affairs of COCATRAM (Central American Commission for Maritime Transport), José Dopeso.

One of the highlights of this meeting is a project put forward by the ACS Transport Directorate, "Port and Maritime Strategy of the Greater Caribbean." This initiative is aimed at improving port infrastructure and competitiveness and ultimately assuring that the foreign trade needs of the Greater Caribbean are equipped to deal with the increase in traffic resulting from the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2014.

A presentation on the advances made on the Map of Maritime Routes in the Greater Caribbean project is another major focus of the meeting. This project offers an updated map of maritime routes in the Greater Caribbean, to allow exporters, importers, vendors or buyers, both internationally and regionally to know when, how, through which operators and under what conditions they may transport their goods.

The meeting will also focus on other regional issues including the promotion of commercial cooperation among the airlines in the Greater Caribbean and the results of two (2) workshops by the ACS for “The Implementation of Quality Management Systems at Airports.” The Directorates from Trade and Sustainable Tourism are also scheduled to make their presentations on areas of common interest such as Trade Facilitation and the progress on establishing the Association of Caribbean Cruise Ships Destinations respectively.