Japan, Caribbean nations agree to cooperate on climate, Haiti+

TOKYO, Sept. 2 Kyodo -
Japan and 13 Caribbean nations agreed in Tokyo on Thursday to cooperate with
each other in curbing global warming and offering support to quake-hit Haiti
among other issues at their first meeting in a decade, a Japanese official
said.
The ministerial meeting of Japan and member countries of the Caribbean
Community, or CARICOM, also underlined Tokyo's renewed pledge to help those
nations recover from the global economic crisis and deepen cooperation on
global issues such as nuclear disarmament and the reform of the United Nations
Security Council.
On climate change, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada urged Caribbean
nations to endorse the Copenhagen Accord that resulted from a key U.N. climate
conference last December and aim for the adoption of a comprehensive accord to
tackle the phenomenon, the official said.
Caribbean nations said they have already been suffering from the adverse
effects of climate change, such as a rise in temperature and more frequent
hurricanes, and called for financial aid to deal with natural disasters, she
said.
In a document released after the ministerial meeting, participants confirmed
their intention to work toward an agreed outcome at the next U.N. climate
conference in Mexico in November and December to adopt a new, ambitious and
comprehensive legal document to establish a fair and effective international
framework to address climate change.
On assistance for Haiti, Japan and CARICOM member states confirmed their
commitment to the medium- and long-term reconstruction of the country,
according to the document. At the meeting, Haiti called for private-sector
participation in the reconstruction efforts, the official said.
The Caribbean countries also asked for Japan's assistance to recover from the
financial crisis, saying their economies have been slumping with declines in
revenues from tourism, their major industry, and in remittances from
expatriates.
The participants also reaffirmed their cooperation over international issues
including nuclear disarmament, U.N. Security Council reform and North Korea's
nuclear ambitions, according to the paper.
As part of the Japan-CARICOM partnership program, which will be implemented in
the next three years or so, Japan pledged to dispatch a public-private joint
economic mission to discover potential business opportunities in the financial
and tourism sectors.
Tokyo also said it will promote the ''one village, one product'' initiative to
boost trade and investment in CARICOM member states through the development of
local industries.
Under the initiative, local communities promote efforts, such as developing
human resources and marketing expertise, to make unique local products globally
competitive to help boost their economies.
Okada and his CARICOM counterparts agreed that they will review the
implementation of Japanese assistance under the partnership program in their
next meeting, but did not set an exact timeframe.
The Japanese minister said the Japan-Caribbean talks should have been held more
frequently. The first meeting was held in Tokyo in November 2000.
CARICOM comprises Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica,
Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Delegates of Saint Kitts and Nevis were absent from the meeting as a hurricane
was approaching the country, according to the official.
Japan aims to deepen cooperation with the Caribbean nations to win their
support for its bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council
and seek their understanding of Japan's position as a whaling nation and of its
efforts to promote nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, she said.
==Kyodo
2010-09-02 22:59:39


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