Saint Lucia External Affairs Minister signs Italy-CDB project agreement

Saint Lucia: External Affairs Minister of Saint Lucia, Alva Baptiste, has expressed gratitude to the Government of Italy for supporting the sustainable development of Caribbean Community member states.

The minister’s remarks were made in New York on Monday, Sep. 19, as he signed an agreement between the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Italy for a concessional €50 million soft loans from Italy to the CDB. Minister Baptiste signed on behalf of Prime Minister Hon. Philip J. Pierre, the current Chairman of the CDB, while Italy’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Marina Sereni, signed on behalf of the Government of Italy.

Participating in the signing ceremony also were the President of the CDB, Dr Hyginus Leon; Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations, Ambassador Maurizio Massari; and Saint Lucia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Menissa Rambally.

The loan to the CDB will allow the bank to finance sustainable development projects in the following CARICOM countries: Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname.

Baptiste said Italy has always cooperated with and been a consistent partner of Caribbean countries.

Saint Lucia is known to maintain friendly relation with majority of the powers, across the Caribbean region and world. The country shares strong bond between the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Italy. The Caribbean island country has no international dispute. The relationship between Saint Lucia and Italy has been maintained since the year 1979.