The Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

SG’s STATEMENT TO VISITING SENEGALESE DIPLOMATS TO ACP HOUSE, 23 JUNE 2009

Distinguished visitors,
On behalf of the ACP Group and the Secretariat, I wish to warmly welcome you to the ACP House.  As we often say here, “this is your home away from home.” 

Let me say at the outset that Senegal is a country close to my heart.  I have made friends with Senegalese over the years and I have visited your country on more than one occasion – the most recent being a few weeks ago when I was invited to attend an African Development Bank meeting.  The warmth and hospitality of your people is something that I will always treasure.

As visitors from the Centre for Diplomacy and Strategic Studies in Dakar, I am sure that part of your training and work – among other things - is to understand how countries and other entities react and assimilate with the changing nature of world politics.  Needless to say, such changes and particularly so in the 21st century are unprecedented.  In that regard, the values of history in terms of preparing for the future can only assist one to a certain extent.  What is equally important is being aware of how and why changes are taking place in the world and how best to accommodate them.  I am sure distinguished friends you know what I am talking about. 

That brings me to why you are at the ACP Secretariat today.  The ACP Group has grown since its inception in 1975 to a membership today of 79 member-states which represent about 700 million people.  The ACP Group’s relationship with the European Union (EU) has understandably evolved over time too.  While this relationship was fundamentally trade-driven at one point, other sectors have been emphasized over the last 10 to 15 years or so.  The Cotonou Agreement which ends in 2020 is presently to be revised for the second time.  After coming into force in 2000, the Cotonou Agreement was first revised in 2005.  This revision needless to say is to make the Agreement relevant and applicable to the reality and demands of the world today.  The ACP Group looks forward to a successful conclusion of this negotiation process by early 2010. 

Distinguished Visitors

The other pertinent issue of the ACP Group is the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).  By early this month 43 ACP member-states have either initialed or signed a full or interim EPA.  Some of these countries did so simply to avert the risk of trade disruption.  This is not only unsustainable in terms of deepening ACP’s regional integration but it also undermines ACP’s unity and solidarity.  Whatever side one takes vis-à-vis the EPA process, the fact remains that it is attached to the ACP-EU development partnership and therefore it has to be dealt with. 

Distinguished visitors

Among some of the salient issues that the ACP Group has dealt with over the last few years are migration, food crisis, climate change and the international financial crisis.  I do not need to go through each of these issues, but evidently they do represent matters that become important because of the nature of an inter-dependent world – and the realization that globalization is here to stay.  

Without further ado, I once more welcome you to the ACP House.  Some staff members of the Secretariat will be here to exchange views with you. 

Thank You Very Much