Honorable Ministers,
Distinguished Delegations,
It is an honor to address you at this important session. Allow me to begin by warmly welcoming all the delegations of our Member States, Associate Members, and Observers. Your presence reaffirms the value of the Association of Caribbean States as an indispensable political and regional cooperation forum. I wish to extend my profound gratitude to the Presidency of Panama, in
particular to Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha Vázquez, for his visionary leadership and his unwavering commitment to revitaising the ACS. His determination, and that of his team, have been essential in bringing us together today to strengthen this mechanism. I also thank the staff of the ACS Secretariat for their steady and professional work, which makes possible the success of gatherings such as this one. Two years ago, in Antigua, Guatemala, during the Ninth Summit of Heads of the ACS, the possibility of closing the Association was raised from within the Secretariat. Nevertheless, our Member States decided otherwise. You mandated the revitalisation of the ACS and, through the Antigua Declaration, entrusted us with the responsibility to renew this mechanism.
I have taken that mandate with utmost responsability and today, by contrast, the ACS is once again projecting itself with renewed dynamism. Under Panama’s leadership, and with the commitment of all of you, we are moving in the opposite direction: advancing towards an ACS that is renewed and revitalised, more ambitious, and more connected with the needs of our people, with the conviction that our role in the region is more necessary than ever. The commitment to revitalise the ACS requires that our actions be sustained by a long-term strategic framework. This transformation can only be achieved with the support and commitment of all of us who are part of the ACS, Member States, Associate Members, and Observers. Only then can we give our Association the dynamism and relevance it requires to respond to today’s challenges. That collective effort is embodied in the ACS Strategic Plan
2025–2035, conceived as a shared roadmap that reflects the vision of our membership, is enriched by dialogue with our Observers, and seeks to deliver concrete responses to the challenges facing the Greater Caribbean today. The Strategic Plan 2025–2035 does not simply reaffirm the thematic areas we already know. What makes it distinct is that it deepens them and, above all, positions itself as a mechanism to confront the current challenges of the Greater Caribbean: from the climate crisis and social inequality to the urgency of improving connectivity and repositioning our collective voice on the international stage.

The Plan is grounded in a clear vision: a united and resilient Greater Caribbean that empowers its communities, protects our shared sea, and promotes sustainable and inclusive development, with equality and dignity at its core. To achieve this, it is based on our founding principles of consultation, cooperation, and concerted action, strengthened by values such as solidarity, social justice,
neutrality, regional sovereignty, and sustainability. Innovation is also at the heart of the Plan and is reflected in its work architecture.
• It defines strategic impact results with measurable goals and outcomes to demonstrate real progress towards 2035.
• It includes action strategies that detail how the ACS will support its Member States and partners, leveraging its convening and coordinating capacity.
• It establishes cross-cutting accelerators, such as digitalisation, innovative financing, and South–South and triangular cooperation, which will amplify the reach of all our priorities.
• It identifies strategic enablers, people, processes, technology, cooperation and partnerships, to ensure that the organisation has the capacities required to deliver on its mandate.
• And it provides a roadmap for implementation and follow-up, with indicators, evaluation mechanisms, and learning loops to guarantee
accountability and transparency at all times. I also wish to highlight the process behind the construction of this plan. The
first phase has already been completed with the proposal of a Strategic Vision, the result of the High-Level Meeting held last May, which brought together both Member States and the technical team of the ACS, and gave us a shared horizon to advance as a region. We are now in the second phase, focused on refining the impact results, strategies, and accelerators. According to the agreed timeline, in November we will finalise the strategic document, including monitoring, evaluation, and risk management mechanisms. Following this, there will be two informal consultations with Member States —the first in mid-November and the second in December— to review and enrich the draft. In January 2026, the Strategic Plan will then be brought to an extraordinary ministerial meeting for its formal consideration for approval. In short, this is not just another plan. It is a shared roadmap, vision-driven and
results-oriented, which will enable us to revitalise the ACS, bring coherence to our actions, and respond effectively to the realities of the Greater Caribbean.

The transformative character of the ACS Strategic Plan 2025–2035 compels us to also consider how to secure the means to make it a reality. Revitalising the ACS cannot remain an effort of ideas alone, nor the consensus of a utopian vision; we must ensure the resources necessary to turn that aspiration into concrete projects and tangible results. In this context, we have established a Subsidiary Fund, which opens the possibility of mobilising additional resources in a transparent and strategic manner. I respectfully invite our Observer States to consider their participation in this endeavour, not as a utilitarian gesture, but as a concrete way of
accompanying the transformation of the ACS and of projecting the Greater Caribbean as a relevant actor in international cooperation. With this strengthened framework, we have already begun to act and to demonstrate how a revitalized ACS delivers in practice. Allow me to share three examples:

Under the leadership of our Chair, Panama, we are convening a Regional Conference on Humanitarian Assistance and Development for the Republic of Haiti, because we cannot remain indifferent to the situation of one of our own, and because the Greater Caribbean has the responsibility to act as a bridge of solidarity and international cooperation. This effort seeks to complement ongoing initiatives by mobilizing regional solidarity alongside humanitarian, community resilience, and logistical
support.
Together with the United Arab Emirates, and within the framework of the World Governments Summit, we will be holding the Tenth International
Cooperation Conference. This meeting marks a transformative step: for the first time, it will take place in Dubai, on a dynamic global platform, representing an unprecedented opportunity for the Greater Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa region to advance solutions together, while amplifying the voice of our region with greater force on the global
stage.
Under Panama’s leadership, preparations are also underway for the ACS Business Forum to be held within the framework of CAF’s Economic Forum next January. This effort aims to project the Greater Caribbean in high-impact arenas, promoting productive linkages, and innovation, with a view to diversifying our economies and generating greater opportunities for growth. These examples show that we are doing things differently: prioritizing, delivering, and projecting, always with the conviction that an active and
renewed ACS can make a real difference for the future of the Greater Caribbean. Allow me now to focus on a central aspect of this revitalisation process, which is also the reason we have gathered for this meeting: the role of the Observers. Today we are celebrating the first formal exercise of structured dialogue between our Ministers and the Observer countries. This is an
unprecedented milestone in the history of the ACS, and its significance goes beyond the symbolic. This meeting is rooted in the trust and in the conviction that opening direct exchanges with those who, from other regions of the world, recognize the Greater Caribbean as a strategic partner, is a fundamental part of our revitalisation.

You, our Observers, are essential partners who have contributed knowledge, financing, global networks, and diverse perspectives. That support has been vital for implementing projects and even for advancing this strategic planning process. But we want to go further and deepen this engagement through a dialogue that allows us to hear your views, receive your feedback, and learn from your vision of the ACS in today’s interdependent and turbulent world. This new space for dialogue is more than an opportunity for cooperation; it is also an expression of the ACS’s growing relevance. We want it to mark a before and after in how we conceive our relationship with Observers as strategic allies, reaffirming the vocation of this Association to project the Greater Caribbean
towards other regions of the world with greater legitimacy, visibility, and influence.

Excellencies, The ACS responds to an historic necessity: to articulate regional cooperation in order to face challenges that no single country of the Greater Caribbean can resolve alone. We speak of climate resilience, of reducing logistical costs, of productive diversification, of protecting our Caribbean Sea, and also of strengthening our collective positioning on the international stage. Our duty is to consolidate this mechanism so that the Greater Caribbean and its people achieve greater relevance, greater influence, and greater opportunities for development. With the leadership of Panama, with the dedication of this Secretariat, and with
the commitment of each of you, we will consolidate a more effective, more inclusive, and more visible ACS. The Greater Caribbean possesses unique wealth: its sea, its culture, its creativity, and its resilience. But that wealth finds its truest meaning only when it is translated into better living conditions and genuine well-being for all the people of our region. Our responsibility is to project it with pride and with the certainty that, united, we are stronger. That strength will be even greater if our Observers find here a legitimate and productive space to engage directly with Ministers, to share priorities, and to build joint projects. Their participation not only enriches our decisions but also broadens the international reach of the ACS and multiplies our capacities. That is why, today, I invite you to see in this Association not merely an institutional mechanism, but a strategic tool to transform the future of the
Greater Caribbean. Let its existence never again be called into question; on the contrary, let its indispensable role be recognized in giving voice to the region and projecting it with pride and relevance onto the global stage. The Greater Caribbean has much to contribute to the planet, and the ACS is the vehicle to make it happen. That is our strategic commitment, but above all, it is
our historic responsibility to our peoples. In today’s turbulent international context, that responsibility becomes all the more urgent, calling on us to act with greater unity, determination, and vision for the future.
Thank you very much.