On 17 December 2020, the Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jānis Mažeiks, held online consultations with the Assistant Secretary-General for Foreign and Community Relations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Ambassador Colin Granderson. Latvia initiated the discussion in order to learn more about the priorities of CARICOM countries and offer technological solutions developed in Latvia.
Jānis Mažeiks presented an outline of Latvia’s priorities and its work in the United Nations bodies, where there is ongoing cooperation with the Caribbean countries, and Latvia’s initiatives and experience in addressing issues such as fighting disinformation. The Political Director informed the Assistant Secretary-General about a number of technological solutions devised by Latvian companies that could be of use for the Caribbean countries, for instance, artificial intelligence and machine translation solutions ensuring true information in the native language, the digitalisation of the environment for services and work (for example, e-Parliament and the teaching process at schools), unmanned aerial and underwater systems to conduct environmental monitoring and repairs.
Colin Granderson appreciated hearing of the innovations and technological solutions offered by Latvian companies and the CARICOM Secretariat will be informing the member states about opportunities for cooperation with Latvia.
Background information
CARICOM, the Caribbean Community, was established in 1973 and it has 15 member states: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago; and five associate members: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands.