ACS marks 25 Years with Joint Symposium at UWI
The Institute of International Relations (IIR) at The UWI St. Augustine Campus and its Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean (DAOC) recently collaborated with the Trinidad and Tobago-based Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Secretariat to host a joint symposium, entitled ACS at Twenty-Five: In Retrospect and Prospect. Convened to help commemorate the ACS’ 25th Anniversary, the symposium considered how the ACS has created important opportunities for consultation and coordination among its membership in key focal areas.
Panellists at the forum also highlighted the strides that are being made by the association to steer collective action in the Greater Caribbean in areas of common interest. The forum, which took place on February 13th, brought together dozens of academics, public officials, members of the diplomatic corps based in Trinidad and Tobago, and a cross-section of The UWI St. Augustine Campus student body.
In feature remarks, Secretary General of the ACS, Her Excellency Ambassador Dr. June Soomer, called attention to the significance of the 25th anniversary, shedding light on the wide-ranging prospects and opportunities for ACS-leveraged regional cooperation in the future. In particular, the forum underscored the unique platform that the ACS provides for its sovereign and non-sovereign members, observers, observer organisations and social partners, among others, to collaborate on a range of projects for mutual benefit.
Stemming from the exchange, it was concluded that the ACS can play a pivotal role in the coming years in stepping up regional efforts in the achievement of cooperation in several focal areas. Emphasis was placed on the ACS’ uniting role, particularly in an era of ever-increasing interdependence resulting from a combination of complex geoeconomic and geopolitical developments.
The joint symposium was held in keeping with and in support of the longstanding partnership between the IIR and the ACS, and it is a tangible representation of the Institute’s contribution to the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the ACS.
