On March 1st the new Secretary General of the ACS, Dr Rubén Silié, takes over the Secretariat. As I pass the baton on to my successor, I cannot help reflecting on the challenges of the past four years.
When I took office in early 2000 the ACS had been in existence for barely half a decade. While a firm political and institutional structure had been set in place, there was a sense that the ACS was still challenged to establish a clear identity and mission. Diffusion of effort, duplication of the work of other regional organisations, alienation of the smaller countries, and low public awareness of the ACS, were among the most frequently cited issues.
Hence I set certain strategic objectives for my term in office: re-focusing the ACS programme on priority areas and projects; demarcating a clear mission and role for the Association; fostering heightened participation by all the membership; establishing good working relations with the other regional secretariats and raising the public profile of the ACS.
Several initiatives were taken. The decision on the rationalisation and prioritisation of the ACS work programme taken in December 2000 was a significant step. It refocused the ACS on its core areas of trade, transport, sustainable tourism and natural disasters and identified specific programmes and projects within the core. This helped to win donor support for 19 projects with a value of $1.3 million over the next three years.
The ACS mission was articulated as promoting the Greater Caribbean as a "Zone of Cooperation", complementing the work of existing sub-regional groupings such as CARICOM and SICA (the Central American Integration System). This was endorsed by the Heads of State and Government at the 3rd ACS Summit in Margarita Island, Venezuela, in December 2001.
Another key initiative was the organisation of annual meetings of the principal regional secretariats on how best to coordinate our efforts, beginning in 2000. These have given rise to much useful collaboration: for example joint work on special and differential treatment on small economies; in sustainable tourism; and on the Caribbean Sea.
The ACS Convention on the Establishment of the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Caribbean (STZC) signed in December 2001; and the Protocol to the Convention and the ACS Air Transport Agreement (ATA) whose signature process was initiated at the recently concluded Third Extraordinary Meeting of the ACS Ministerial Council. These legal instruments give concrete form to functional cooperation in the key sectors of tourism and air transport.
We have seen growing involvement in ACS cooperation activities on the part of Central American countries and some CARICOM countries, and by the Dutch and French speaking Associate Members.
Efforts have been made to raise the profile of the ACS through a variety of outreach activities, including this column.
But much more remains to be done. The ACS needs to secure greater political support and commitment if it is to fulfil the dream of creating an enhanced economic space in the Caribbean region and acting as the region's principal interlocutor in international geo-political and geo-economic affairs.
Measures are needed to bring about a substantial increase in intra-regional trade, investment, tourism and transport. Less that eight percent of the foreign trade of ACS member states is with other ACS member states.
Energy, and the protection and management of the Caribbean Sea, are also two areas in which there is an urgent need for intensified cooperation across the entire space of the Greater Caribbean region.
My thanks go to the ACS Ministerial Council for providing me with the opportunity to serve the organisation as head of the Secretariat.
And a special word of thanks to the staff of the Secretariat for their support and cooperation over the past challenging-and satisfying--four years.
Professor Norman Girvan is Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to mail@acs-aec.org
