Today, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard hosted a breakfast with representatives from the CARICOM countries during the 7th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which is taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Foreign Secretary welcomed the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Everard Gonsalves, and his counterparts from the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, in addition to Caricom Deputy Secretary-General Armstrong Alexis.

Foreign Secretary Ebrard announced Mexico's interest in holding the Fifth Mexico-Caricom Summit, scheduled for this year, in Mexico City. The Summit was originally planned for March 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the breakfast, Mexico discussed opportunities for cooperation with the Caribbean countries based on a portfolio of investment projects especially related to climate change and its effects on natural disasters, such as hurricanes, droughts and related issues, a topic of paramount importance for the region. 

Alejandro Svarch, head of the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris), presented proposals for advancing a health self-sufficiency plan, which includes boosting the region's ability to develop, produce and distribute medicines and vaccines. 

Also discussed was the progress made by the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE), created when Mexico was President Pro Tempore of Celac in 2021.  With technical and financial assistance from Mexico, the first ALCE cooperation project is underway: the Geospatial Observation Center at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago. The Center will provide the region with geospatial information on disaster prevention. This project received support from Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), which provided training and technical assistance.

As part of the Caribbean, Mexico seeks solid and effective ties to the region, with which we share common interests. In addition, Mexico offers its support for cooperation projects that benefit the inhabitants of these island countries, thus strengthening its role in the Caribbean and consolidating its leadership in the region.

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