POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe – Efforts to more closely integrate the French Caribbean with the rest of the region will be reviewed at the International Summit of the INTERREG IV Caribbean program.
The sessions will be held for the first time in Puerto Rico from November 28 to 29 this week at the InterContinental Hotel San Juan.
The program aims to foster closer ties between the Caribbean linguistic divide by generating joint local and regional initiatives, as well as strengthening transborder, transnational and intra-regional cooperation.
The Regional Council of Guadeloupe, which manages the Caribbean-wide INTERREG IV program, will be represented at the meeting alongside its partner regional councils from Martinique and French Guyana, and officials from St. Martin.
Also participating at the international summit will be representatives of many regional organizations, including CARICOM (Caribbean Community), the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) and the ACS (Association of Caribbean States).
The INTERREG program aims to make a major contribution to the sustainable development of the greater Caribbean region and, by so doing, further integrate the French Overseas Countries and Territories with other island nations and entities.
Financial support from the European Union’s Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the INTERREG IV Caribbean program totals 63 million Euros (more than 80 million US Dollars), and goes to a wide range of projects which value and strengthen the Caribbean’s major assets. Participants will discuss priority areas and how to assign resources to the selected areas during the course of the international meeting.
