At the second CARICOM-Japan Ministerial Meeting held in Tokyo, Japan on 2 September 2010, CARICOM Member States and Japan agreed on a range of issues for strengthening the partnership and collaboration which they have enjoyed over the past ten years.

In a comprehensive Outcome Document adopted by the Meeting, the Foreign Ministers identified the issues of overcoming vulnerability, climate change, poverty alleviation, capacity building and cultural exchange as areas for strengthened cooperation. Additionally, the Community commended Japan for its ongoing support to Haiti over the years, and particularly for its immediate response to Haiti through its pledge of US$100M for reconstruction activities as well as its intention for further assistance to Haiti in the medium and long term recovery of that country.

The four-point Agenda of the Japan-CARICOM Cooperation Initiative provides Member States with the opportunity to implement projects in the areas of disaster risk reduction, adaptation to the effects of Climate Change, management, human resource development, waste management, and alternative sources of energy.

It was agreed that the future direction of CARICOM- Japan cooperation will also place emphasis on the promotion of human security through assistance to the improvements in primary and secondary education as a well as health and medical systems. It will also focus on fostering cultural exchange and the promotion of cultural industries which would involve invitations to 300 young leaders from CARICOM Member States to visit Japan over the next three years.

Health and Medicine represent another important area which Japan has identified for continued technical assistance within the revised CARICOM-Japan Framework. In this regard, CARICOM Foreign Ministers took the opportunity to thank Japan for its support to the UN Resolution on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), a CARICOM-led initiative, and proposed this critically important issue as one of the specific issues for future collaboration in the area of health care.

In a joint CARICOM/OECS Secretariat bilateral meeting held in the margins of the Ministerial Meeting with H.E. Shuji Kira, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development of the CARICOM Secretariat reiterated CARICOM’s willingness to work with Japan towards achieving a successful outcome on Climate Change at  COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico  and emphasized the Community’s interest in collaborating with the Government and the private sector of Japan  in the development of cultural industries, and building on  people to people exchanges which the two sides enjoy.

In his introductory remarks to the Ministerial session,  Dr The Hon Kenneth Baugh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister of Jamaica  as CARICOM  Co-Chair, outlined the  challenges facing the Region, many of which, he stated had been exacerbated by the global financial and economic crisis. He also pointed the need for special consideration to be given to the peculiarities of the Highly Indebted Middle Income Countries (HIMICS) which have particular vulnerabilities, including the persistent exposure to natural disasters.  He urged the Japanese Government to highlight these issues and commit to advocating on CARICOM’s behalf in the G20 Forum where Japan has global influence.

The Ministerial dialogue which was hailed as “meaningful and constructive,” was followed by a Public Symposium on Climate Change and Bio-Diversity organized by the United Nations University. In presentations on a range of themes spanning Caribbean Culture and Society, Biodiversity and Marine Governance in the CARICOM Region, Climate Change and Disaster Management in CARICOM, Trade and Investment as well as the recognition of the Caribbean Sea as a Special Zone, Foreign Ministers of Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines engaged members of academia and the Japanese public in discussions on the link between Climate Change and bio-diversity, and on the devastating impact of Climate Change on the countries of the Region.