WESTERN BUREAU:

Jamaica is now the 25th country, and the fifth Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member, to be accepted into the prestigious Rio Group.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding expressed pleasure at the acceptance of Jamaica into the Rio Group in his keynote address to delegates at the Rose Hall Resort and Spa in Montego Bay, St James, last Friday.

He was speaking at the opening ceremony on the third day of the Ministerial Meeting of Latin America and the Caribbean on Integration and Development (CALC) and the 28th Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Rio Group.

"Jamaica, which has represented CARICOM to the Rio Group since 2008, is delighted that its application for membership has been approved, and we've now become a proud member of the Rio Group in our own right," Golding gushed.

Jamaica's application for membership into the Rio Group had been formally accepted at the meeting of the Joint Foreign Ministers of CALC and the Rio Group, which was held at the same venue on Thursday. Jamaica follows fellow CARICOM members Belize, Guyana, Haiti and Suriname in membership of the Rio Group.

"We urge our sister CARICOM states that have not already applied to the Rio Group, to seriously consider doing so," Golding remarked. "And, I was pleased to learn from my foreign minister (Dr Kenneth Baugh) this morning that a number of CARICOM member states have indicated their intention to seek membership in the Rio Group."

Proud moment

In his address, Baugh thanked the members of the Rio Group for their expression of confidence in Jamaica.

"This is a proud moment for us and indeed for CARICOM, which now has five countries which have sought membership in their own right," he commented. "We look forward to more CARICOM countries joining in their own right, and I wish to assure the remaining CARICOM member states of Jamaica's commitment to continue to simultaneously represent CARICOM in the Rio Group until the termination of our mandate in 2011."

Golding added: "The Rio Group, although well established, is a process; it's not an organisation. Its mandate is confined to political consultation and concerted action where those consultations lead. But, the need to focus attention on integration and development cannot be contested."