CARICOM gets European money to boost regional integration

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is to benefit from an injection of Euro 165 million (US$244 million) in funding from the European Commission as part of its ongoing support for regional integration. (File photo)

KINGSTON, Jamaica, October 28, 2009 – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is to benefit from an injection of Euro 165 million (US$244 million) in funding from the European Commission as part of its ongoing support for regional integration.

That disclosure from Head of Section of the Delegation of the European Commission (EC) to Jamaica, Helen Jenkinson, who explained that the principal objective of the EC initiative is to support trade and other areas of the integration movement.

She pointed out that the integration of the block of 27 countries, which make up the European Union, made it easier for some member states to face the current economic crisis than if they had been working individually.

"The European Union is a great supporter of Caribbean integration, partly from our own experience in history," she said. “We've got a lot of money that we've put in support of Caribbean integration. The message for the Caribbean is, you should work together, or risk sinking individually, particularly, in times of economic crisis like the present."

Jenkinson also pointed out that there were a lot of other funding sources available that CARICOM states could access to address areas such as education, disaster management, climate change and infrastructure.

"We're working on setting up an infrastructure trust fund. I believe CARICOM is working on a study as a first step and, clearly, improving infrastructure is essential for this region," she said. (JIS)