Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary of State to participate in informal meeting of EU Development Ministers

On 12-13 March 2007, the Under-Secretary of State of the Latvian Foreign Ministry, Maija Manika, will participate in the informal meeting of the EU Development Ministers in Bonn, Germany. These informal ministerial meetings are organized by the country holding the EU Presidency.

The discussions at the meeting will cover the Economic Partnership Agreements with the African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries, co-ordination and division of work among the donor countries, as well as energy and development issues.

For Latvia the key issue at the meeting will be co-ordination and division of work among the donor countries. Reaching agreement on the division of obligations and responsibilities will help the donor countries to improve the efficiency of assistance and to avoid the inexpediency in the use of funds.

The implementation of assistance must be based on the priorities of recipient countries, whereas the recipient countries should undertake a co-ordinating role in the receipt and implementation of assistance.

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