European Union Comission condutcs portfolio review meeting in St. Lucia
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Contact: Julita Peter
Wednesday, July 2, 2008 A ten-member European Union delegation led by Ambassador Valeriano Diaz visited the island on Tuesday July 01, 2008 . The main purpose of the visit was to conduct a review of the country portfolio with the local executing EU funding agencies, which include the Poverty Reduction Fund, Office of Private Sector Relations, and the National Authorizing Office.
Ambassador Diaz said the EU delegation was unusually large, but it was to demonstrate their concern for St. Lucia. He said Tuesday's visit provided an opportunity to strengthen the cooperation and enhance the communication between the EU and St. Lucia .
I would like to thank you for your presence here today. It's going to give us the opportunity to learn more about your difficulty, how you see the co-operation with us, how we identify issues that need to be addressed. It's a technical meeting, so let's be pragmatic and constructive, Ambassador Diaz added.
The tenth phase of the European Development Fund Program-EDF, primarily for the development and improvement of the private sector, was among several EU programs discussed at Tuesday's meeting.
The socio-economic challenges call for fiscal prudence, said Mr. Donavan Williams, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Economic Planning and National Development. He added that it is not a question of getting access to resources but a question of making the most efficient and effective use of them.
I want us to see today's activity as one in which we have that opportunity to reflect on the portfolio, and its over-all implementation framework. An opportunity for us to ask ourselves very searching questions about both our individual and collective performance, Williams added.
Mr. Williams expressed the desire of the meeting becoming a regular feature, as St. Lucia and the European Union Commission move to strengthen their partnership. |
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