A high-level delegation from the European Commission, met with Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, members of his cabinet and senior public servants last Thursday in Kingstown.
The delegation, led by Stefano Manservisi, director general for International Cooperation and Development, held discussions with the local team, headed by Gonsalves, to assess the status of the partnership between the European Union and St. Vincent and the Grenadines as well as visit a number of projects financed by the European Union.
The one-day visit to SVG was part of a wider regional mission being undertaken by the European Commission delegation.
In addressing the meeting, Gonsalves noted that the European Union is SVG’s country’s single largest source of grant funding and a critical development partner that has been with SVG on very important focal sectors.
Manservisi, who is making way for his replacement, outlined that the assessment forms part of a comprehensive brief that would include the status of the work being done by the EU in the Caribbean, that he intends to hand over to his successor.
The outgoing director general congratulated SVG on its election to the United Nations Security Council and highlighted the significance of this, not just for SVG but for the entire region.
He suggested that this is an opportunity for the EU and SVG to work together to achieve more for the region.
Following the discussions at Cabinet Room in Kingstown, the visiting delegation, which also included Felice Zaccheo, head of division for Caribbean
Countries, Ambassador Daniela Tramacere, head of delegation and political advisor from the Delegation of the European Union to Barbados, Ovidiu Naftanaila, visited a number of projects that were financed through funding from the European Union. The mission ended with a cocktail at the VIP Lounge at the Argyle International
Airport, where the visiting delegation interacted with other stakeholders, including trade union leaders, farmers and members of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
The Ingenious Gentleman, Don Quixote of La Mancha that Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes and Published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615 reminds one of the follies of delusional aspirations.
This Comic character Don Quixote, in the first part of that book, does not see the world for what it is and prefers to imagine that he is living out his own knightly story. What has been our story for the past good many years?
To quote Miguel de Cervantes at his best: “Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn”.
No one truly like a beggar, so why do we Vincentians continually keep begging the EU and the rest of the world for our economic support? Why do we keep on marketing and parading ourselves as a people in need and incapable of helping ourselves? Would not a better management of the country get us out of this “poor victim we” syndrome? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dAmroKyzGY
Industry and Jobs, Industry and Jobs, industry and Jobs that is what the people of SVG demands and not incessant Grant Aid. https://www.adamsmith.org/the-wealth-of-nations
High taxes and a pseudo Marxist ideology have deterred and precluded investment here for too long! Are we not profoundly ashamed or even sick and tired of being treated as incapable children in need of never ending assistance by way of development Aid?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvF_D4tVfYU what on earth ever happened to that SVG, Land of the blessed? Must we forever be seen as CHILDREN IN NEED?
Much of the grant money coming from the UN is paid into the UN by the British government. Then besides that the British government have given millions of dollars directly themselves to SVG as aid. Done so every year for many years.
I hope they all stop giving money for projects directly to SVG as they clearly cannot be trusted unless the money is sat on and dispensed a little at a time under fierce scrutiny. Better to give money to The Caribbean Investment Bank to manage, and dispense.