Caribbean Leaders And South Africa Agree To Strengthen Ties

By CARICOM Photos: IBW21\Yhomo Hutchinson\CARICOM\Wikimedia Commons (CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater, Georgetown, Guyana) – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and South Africa have agreed to conduct more regular dialogue and have committed to formalising the mechanism to do so. This was one of the main action points emanating from a CARICOM-South Africa Ministerial Meeting held via video conference on 22 March 2024. CARCIOM also reaffirmed its commitment to signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Union (AU) to establish a framework for cooperation between the sides. CARICOM Ministers with responsibility for foreign affairs engaged with their South African counterpart, Her Excellency Grace Naledia Mandisa Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, in a meeting co-chaired by Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith and Minister Pandor. The two sides exchanged views on the ongoing situation in Gaza and in Haiti, climate change and financing, development financing, and the imminent Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to be held in Antigua and Barbuda. The sides also discussed CARICOM-AU trade relations and the development of infrastructure to facilitate trade between the Community and Africa. Speaking at the opening, CARICOM...