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• Caribbean
• International
• Business and Economy
• Science and Technology
• 11 / 08 / 2007

Cuba hosted a meeting on Tuesday with delegations from 20 countries and world bodies like the United Nations to boost Caribbean trade and profits.

Gregorio Canales, president of the Association of Caribbean States Special Committee for Trade Development and Foreign Economic Relations, said the goal is to strengthen development and benefit member countries.

The meeting coordinated the ACS 2008-2009 work program, set up the Gran Caribe Economic Observatory and arranged a cooperation accorded with Puerto Rico's Economic Department.

The Association is a forum to exchange, coordinate and cooperate in trade, transportation, sustainable tourism and natural disasters in the Caribbean.

Its members are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras and Mexico.

There are also Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, and St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

Its associates are Aruba and France on behalf of Guyana, Guadeloupe and Martinique, plus the Dutch Antilles and officials from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

At the opening, Cuban Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas called to accelerate regional integration to promote broad and balanced economic spaces.

Source: Prensa Latina