President Hage Geingob says Namibia will not back down from its position that the Caribbean and Pacific island states be part of the Cotonou agreement post 2020.

The Cotonou Agreement is the trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states. The agreement was signed in 2000 and expires in 2020.

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“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

BRUSSELS ACP/IDN – The heads of state or government of the 28 EU member states, constituting the European Council, have authorized the European Commission to open negotiations for a new partnership agreement with 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). The Group's Secretary-General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes has greeted the decision.

Fish and seafood is one of the most traded food commodities in the world. Some 38 per cent of world production enters international trade, of which more than half originates in developing countries. Global exports reached 153 US$ billion in 2017, slightly up compared to 2016. The net trade income for developing countries (export – import), valued at US$ 36 billion in 2016, is greater than all other agricultural commodities combined.

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Madame Chairperson of the Committee of Ambassadors, Secretary-General of the ACP Group, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Bula Vinaka and a very good afternoon to you all.

Brussels, 20 June 2018

Honourable Co-Presidents, Distinguished members of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Brussels, 20 June 2018

Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly – Hon. Louis Michel, and Co-President, Hon. Joseph Hyacinthe Owona Kono, Hon. President-in-Office of the EU Council, Ekaterina Zaharieva, Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Members of the JPA, Distinguished guests

Thank you for the opportunity of addressing you on the occasion of the 35^th Session of your Assembly.