This Ceremony for the Signing of two Agreements between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Federal Republic of Germany presents a timely opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of the Federal Republic of Germany to a number of developmental initiatives in the Region, including, but not restricted to, the building of regional capacity through the replenishment of the Study and Expert Fund and the provision of timely and well tailored assistance to stem the tide of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

As you are aware, an International Meeting for the Review of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA) after ten years, will be held in Mauritius on 10-14 January 2005. That meeting will provide an opportunity to direct international attention to issues of critical concern particularly to the small island and low-lying coastal developing states of the CARICOM Region. Support of the donor community for the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action will therefore be vital to its success.

In this regard, I wish to acknowledge the contribution of the Federal Republic of Germany to Sustainable Development, especially the assistance to the Caribbean Renewable Energy Development Programme (CREDP). The initiative currently under implementation by which GTZ will provide considerable assistance (2.2M Euro) towards the Caribbean Renewable Energy Development Programme has marked a significant step in the strengthening of the cooperation relationship between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Caribbean Community.

Support in this area, through the provision of technical assistance, capacity building and equipment, is expected to assist the Community in creating favourable conditions to stimulate investment in renewable energy utilities in Member States of CARICOM. That intervention is both critical and timely.

The Federal Republic of Germany has generously provided assistance in other areas such as the Technical, Vocational and Educational Training (TVET) Programme, and support for the CARICOM Youth Ambassador's Programme (CYAP).

In specific relation to the Study and Expert Fund, the Community extends its appreciation for its replenishment in the amount of 500,000 Euro to be used to finance the assistance in the areas of environmental protection; conservation of resources; economic promotion; vocational training; health; population; diet; and organization and management consulting.

This project will provide specifically for the secondment of experts, the preparation of reports and studies which, in the framework of development cooperation, will assist, inter alia, in the identification and preparation of bilateral technical cooperation projects, as well as the implementation of other individual development cooperation measures.

In respect of the Agreement on "HIV/AIDS Prevention in the Caribbean, for which a financial contribution totaling up to Euro 6,000,000 (six million euro) is being made available, the activities to be conducted form a crucial component of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework to which all Caribbean partners subscribe. However this particular programme has a special focus as it targets the sexually active population particularly among the poor and especially HIV high-risk groups. It is a social marketing programme and, in this respect, it is intended to connect with mainstreaming activities being undertaken by the CARICOM Secretariat on behalf of the Community in areas such as education, health, culture, youth, sports and gender. It is also intended to engage the co-partners of PANCAP; the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC); the Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (CRN+), the Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC); University of the West Indies (UWI); Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and others. In this regard, we are pleased to note that agencies such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), USAID and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) are involved in complementary activities.

The Caribbean Community is of course aware of the obligations we have to fulfill in order to facilitate and maximize the anticipated outcomes of the generous assistance from the German Government. I wish to assure you that the Caribbean Community and its Secretariat will do all in our power to ensure that these counterpart responsibilities are fully discharged.

This signing ceremony today and, in particular, the commitment of the Federal Republic of Germany to make available considerable technical and financial resources to assist the Caribbean to face its challenges and to realize its enormous potential in a wide range of areas of developmental importance, is most welcome.