HAVANA, Cuba (ACN): The chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Owen Arthur, said the organisation expects its relations with Cuba to continue to prosper during the coming years, in a statement to mark 35 years of relations between the island and the first four CARICOM member countries.

Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur. AFP PHOTO

Barbados Prime Minister Arthur reaffirmed, on behalf of CARICOM member governments and nations, the Community's commitment to further develop relations with Cuba, which began on December 14, 1972, with Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

The CARICOM chairman mentioned some of the most important achievements reached by Cuba and the Caribbean Community, the most recent of which being the signing in 2005 of the Bridgetown Declaration by all members of CARICOM and Cuba.

He said the CARICOM-Cuba Cultural Co-operation Agreement of December 8, 2005 facilitated a continuation and a deepening of the many collaborative links which the Community had already forged with Cuba, including co-operation in the areas of health, sports, engineering, education, culture and in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Arthur cited tangible contributions to the development of human capital in the region. Under the CARICOM/Cuba Scholarship programme, many CARICOM nationals have completed undergraduate programs in a wide range of disciplines, he said.

At the trade and economic levels, the Community has established a presence in Cuba embodied in the Trade Facilitation Office, opened by Trinidad and Tobago earlier this year.

The chair of the organisation repeated on behalf of the Community the appreciation for the concrete actions led by Cuba to ensure cohesive articulation and promotion of collective economic and development interests.