Opening Ceremony Of The 3rd Summit Of ACP Heads Of State And Government
Denarau, Fiji, 18 July, 2002

Madame Vice President of the Republic of the Dominican Republic representing the President of the 2nd Summit,
Hon. Prime Minister of the Republic of the Fiji Islands, host of the 3rd Summit,
Excellencies, Heads of State and Government,
Distinguished Heads of Delegation,
Distinguished representatives of the institutions of the Republic of Fiji,
Distinguished representatives of international and regional organisations,
Excellencies, members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to the Authorities and people of the Republic of Fiji Islands for all the efforts they have made in less than a year for the perfect organization of this 3rd Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government.

This resolute commitment at all levels is brilliantly manifested by the warm and hospitable welcome accorded the delegations participating in the Summit in this very beautiful island of Denarau.

It is further testifies, among other things, by the magnificent traditional welcome ceremony with which we were gratified yesterday afternoon in these very premises.

I would also like to express through you, Madame Vice President of the Dominican Republic, my gratitude to the President of the 2nd Summit, H.E HIPOLITO MEIJA, for his support and counsel which enabled the Secretariat to meet the challenges in the preparation of such a momentous event.

Excellencies, Heads of State and Government,
Distinguished Heads of Delegation,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since November 1999 when the 2nd Summit was held in Santo Domingo, our Group has become enlarged with the accession of seven new members, namely, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Federation of the States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau and Cuba. Recently, too it granted observer status to East Timor which has just attained independence after a heroic liberation struggle and whose request for admission to the Group is under consideration.

Needless to say, these accessions testify to the attraction and interest our Group continues to rouse owing to its many achievements.

The Group however finds itself at the crossroads, what with the serious challenges that have been imposed on it, among other things, by globalization.

The Nadi Summit on the theme “ACP Solidarity in a globalized world” has come at the right time.

It is the first summit organized since the beginning of the 3rd millennium and since the signing, on 23 July 2000, of the partnership Agreement between the ACP and the European Union. Commonly known as the Cotonou Agreement, this instrument marks a major turning point in our relations with the European Union.

We crafted a global agreement, going beyond aid to not only include all aspects of development, but also to take due account of the political dimension which is perceived as a condition for development.

Furthermore, following an integrated approach, the Cotonou Agreement has widened the scope of actors of the ACP-EU partnership, transcending the traditional actors to encompass non-state actors, namely, the private sector and civil society.

Unfortunately, the Agreement has not yet been able to produce its effects since it has not been ratified by all the European Member states, although the ACP side has attained the requisite number of ratifications. Consequently, it is still not possible to utilize the financial resources provided to accompany the development efforts of the ACP states.

I am therefore seizing this opportunity to emphasize once again the ACP group’s concern for the European side to ratify the Agreement as a matter of urgency.

Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, our Group has also been striving to ensure its visibility and positioning on the international scene, as was decided by you at the Libreville and Santo Domingo Summits.

As regards enhanced visibility and positioning, significant progress has been made. I would particularly like to mention the success the Group achieved at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation last November during which, by virtue of its unity and solidarity, the Group obtained a hard-won derogation for the Cotonou Agreement and the integration of many of its concerns into the work programme adopted by the Conference.

Another achievement was the opening in Geneva, in January this year, of the Group’s Permanent Representation which has contributed to the establishment of a more effective coordination of ACP representatives, which is indispensable for a successful participation in the multilateral trade negotiations within the WTO.

It is necessary to build on all these results. In that regard, I presume the time has now come for the ACP Group to ask itself whether it intends to remain a mere pressure group vis-à-vis the European Union, or to become a real international organization endowed with the necessary resources to meet, wherever the need might arise, the new demands of the international scene as well as the effective defence of its just and legitimate aspirations.

The reply to this question should not lose sight of the major characteristics of the Group whose strengths lie in its numbers, its spread across the geographical areas of the world, and its long experience of common actions based on constantly-renewed unity and solidarity.

Excellencies, Heads of State and Government

It must be emphasized that this 3rd Summit is being held on the verge of the major events on the world scene. It could carry out an analysis or establish positions to be defended by the Group in international fora.

Consequently, it could map out what it considers of the global political, economic and financial situation, especially since the tragic events in the United States on 11 September, 2001.

Similarly, the attention of the Summit will certainly be retained by the evaluation of the outcome of the Monterey Conference on development financing as well as the conclusions of the recent meeting of the G8 and of the World Food Summit. The outcome of these various meetings did not meet the expectations of the developing countries, including the ACP states.

With regard to the World Summit on Sustainable Development scheduled for Johannesburg in August/September, the ACP Group could agree on a common position which it must ensure is taken into account in concert with other partners. In this respect, the Council of Ministers adopted, at its last session, a framework document: “ACP Vision of sustainable development” whose defence will certainly be facilitated by the guidelines that the Heads of state and Government may wish to issue the Group.

Under the terms of the ACP-EU partnership, the next important landmark is the launching, on 27 September in Brussels, of the negotiations leading to Economic Partnership Agreements as provided for by the Cotonou Agreement to gradually phase out, with effect from 2008, the current non-reciprocal preferences and liberalize ACP-EU trade.

At its recent meeting in the Dominican Republic, the Council of Ministers, on the proposal of the joint meeting of ACP Ministers of Trade and of Finance, adopted the guidelines for these important negotiations which will be held in two phases.

During the first phase, from September 2002 to September 2003, negotiations will be held with the European Union on an “All ACP” Agreement relating to the areas, objectives and guiding principles of the future Economic Partnership Agreements.

The second phase will be devoted to the negotiation, at regional level, of the content of the EPAs, which should cover issues specific to the ACP regions and countries.

Nonetheless, for these forthcoming negotiations to be a success, our Group must reconcile its overall interests with regional and national realities especially by maintaining and reinforcing its unity and solidarity. This would not be possible without real political will. Similarly, as in the past, this unity and solidarity will be achieved only if they are based on mutually-accepted principles such as differential treatment and transparency in the negotiating process.

In addition, it is essential for these negotiations to be aimed not only at granting trade concessions but also at reaching agreements which take due account of development objectives as well as the smooth and gradual integration of the ACP states in the world economy.

For the successful conclusion of these negotiations and the effective implementation of the agreements resulting therefrom, the political guidelines of the Heads of state are inestimably useful, given the considerable budgetary, economic and social repercussions these agreements are liable to have.

Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Heads of delegations,

I would, at this juncture, like to salute the presence of our multilateral and bilateral partners in our midst. I would particularly like to mention the European Union, our original and principal partner, for the quality of our partnership, the UN agencies, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Organization of French-speaking Countries (OIF) for the dynamism of our cooperation.

I avail myself of this occasion to welcome the firm commitment of the ACP regional integration institutions to collaborate closely with the Secretariat, the regional institutions which participate regularly in the Group’s meetings and whose heads or representatives are present here with us.

I would also like to express gratitude to the non-state actors, namely the private sector and civil society with which the Secretariat collaborates actively in the framework of the implementation of the Cotonou Agreement.

To conclude, I would like to make special mention of the ACP Council of Ministers and the Committee of Ambassadors for the precise guidelines and constant support for the Secretariat which have contributed to facilitating the task of your executive organ which is responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the decisions by the statutory bodies of the Group.

I reaffirm the commitment of the entire Secretariat staff to continue giving these high authorities their effective technical support, the quality of which I will personally ensure.

I thank you for your kind attention.