Roundup: Caribbean states, Venezuela celebrate 10th anniversary of PetroCaribe

Heads of state and government, energy ministers and other senior officials from member countries of PetroCaribe gathered here Saturday for a summit to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the oil supply alliance.

The summit, which includes a plenary meeting and a commemorative ceremony, was co-chaired by Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

It focused on examining the activities and achievement under PetroCaribe over the past decade, and formulating new strategies on expanding the project in the future.

Proposed by former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, PetroCaribe is an oil supply mechanism which allows Caribbean countries to buy oil from Venezuela on conditions of preferential payment.

The payment system allows oil purchase at market value with a small percentage of the cost paid upfront. The balance can be paid over 17 to 25 years at an interest rate as low as 1 or 2 percent per year.

The agreement was signed by 14 nations during the First Energy Meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean on PetroCaribe in June 2005. Currently, there are 17 members, plus Venezuela, in the arrangement.

In her remarks to the commemorative ceremony, Simpson-Miller highlighted PetroCaribe as a "timely and significant" initiative that has helped to fortify regional economies.

"Since that historic signing, the region has seen significant benefits and increased development in many areas. Additionally, PetroCaribe has engendered a sense of independence in our region," she said.

"Without the PetroCaribe arrangement, some of the most vulnerable countries in the region would have succumbed to the global economic crisis in 2008 as well as subsequent challenges," she added.

The prime minister said the preferential payment mechanism under PetroCaribe helped Jamaica spare some 4 billion U.S. dollars to invest in 432 social projects to foster improvements in people's living standards and boost economic development.

"Among PetroCaribe's significant achievements that have positively impacted the Jamaican economy over the years are the investments in the improvement of our road, air and seaport infrastructure; the financing of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; and production expansion," she said.

"PetroCaribe has been a lifeline for many of the region's struggling economies and for our people. We are confident that this meeting will be extremely meaningful and will carry with it the symbolism of a strong group of countries that are united by more than oil," she added.

Simpson-Miller's high commendation of PetroCaribe was echoed by Salvador Valdes, vice president of Cuba's Council of State.

"PetroCaribe deserves to be known in all latitudes because if all countries that own energy resources would do the same as Venezuela is doing, we would live in a more just, more developed, more equitable, more supportive and more peaceful planet," he said.

Maduro also praised the achievement of the energy arrangement in the past 10 year, but the Venezuelan president looks forward more into the future.

"PetroCaribe is part of a successful experiment of the integration of energy. This is a project that has demonstrated in its 10 years that it is possible to construct a different model," he said.

"It has turned into an integer formula, a miracle, a formula of integration, of prosperity and has contributed to the economic, energetic and social stability for the Caribbean," he added.

Meanwhile, the president proposed a four-point plan for the Caribbean energy bloc in the next 10 years, spanning from 2015 to 2025.

This includes establishing the PetroCaribe Economic Zone, ensuring comprehensive energy sovereignty of member countries, the creation of a social protection system of the Caribbean, and a common system of civil protection against natural disasters. Endi