United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Hague told Caribbean Foreign Ministers on Saturday in Grenada that London planned to invest 75-million pounds over a 4-year period into development projects in the Caribbean, according to a release today from the Caricom Secretariat.
Speaking at the Opening Plenary of the 7th UK-Caribbean Forum, Hague said that the investment represented a considerable rise on previous aid budgets.
“We are one of the few nations in the world that is maintaining its international development commitments at a time of financial difficulty. We will stick to our pledge to raise our aid to 0.7 of GNI, and you will find us a reliable partner”, he was quoted by Caricom as saying.
He listed four areas – prosperity, security, climate change and foreign policy -where the funds will be allocated and for which the UK was seeking greater cooperation with the Caribbean.
“The programme focuses on economic growth and jobs, improving security and fighting corruption and combating the threat from natural disasters and climate change,” he said, according to the Secretariat.
