Havana - Representatives of the nations comprising the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) are arranging details today for the celebration on Friday, March 10th, of the 22nd ordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers of that regional mechanism.

Cuba is hosting this week several meetings of the association, which started yesterday with the First Conference on Cooperation, in which representatives of the member States of the bloc arranged seven projects and analyzed key issues for the development of the regional countries.

The meeting was described as transcendental by ACS Secretary General, June Soomer, who especially thanked Cuba for the role played during the pro tempore presidency of the Council of Ministers, and provide the space for this forum where issues related to interconnection, transportation and confrontation with climate change were discussed.

According to Deputy Foreign Trade Minister, Ileana Nuñez, three of those initiatives respond to the common interest of strengthening capacities to mitigate the effects of extreme climatic variations, while the other four projects propose to unite the Caribbean by air and sea.

The improvement of the infrastructure and the technical conditions with a view to promoting solutions in those two issues of great relevance is an essential priority for the nations of the area, she considered.

Countries cooperating with the ACS and international agencies are attending the meeting, which seeks to promote technical, material and financial collaboration.

The group is holding for the first time a meeting of this nature and we hope it will become a tradition for its importance to coordinate efforts through direct contact with other institutions in and outside the region, Nuñez said.

With the purpose of reviewing the progress of the comprehensive relations between Cuba and the nations associated with the Caribbean Community, Havana will also host the 5th CARICOM-Cuba Ministerial Meeting on Saturday, March 11th.