“In today’s globalised world, it is not easy for small states to be effective players in economic and commercial exchange,” he said, adding that the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean Pacific States (CARIFORUM) had brought the Region into the same sphere with “the big league.”
In this regard, he said Finland was keen on hearing and understanding CARICOM’s concerns and it was willing to help others in the EU to be “sensitive to such concerns.”
He said that Finland was assisting in the economic development of the Region through its contribution to the CARICOM Development Fund and through the European Development Fund, to which it channels 25 per cent of its Overseas Development Aid.
In addition, he said, his country had pledged its support to Haiti’s long term recovery with an allocation of Euros $12.7 million to rebuilding of the earthquake-ravaged CARICOM Member State. Finland was among the first responders to the January 12 disaster in Haiti, establishing field hospitals as part of an initial Euros $5.4 million in humanitarian aid.
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