The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) (Also called the Asociacion de Estados del Caribe or Association des Etats de la Caraibe) facilitates the consultation, cooperation and integrative action among all the countries of the Caribbean, comprising twenty five member states and eleven associate members. The Convention, establishing the ACS, was signed on July 24, 1994 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
The list of Member States is as follows: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.
The objectives of the ACS are highlighted in the Convention and are based on the ameliorating of the ACS co-operation and integration process as to create an improved economic space in the region; preserving the environmental integrity of the Caribbean Sea; and promoting the sustainable development of the Greater Caribbean.
The objectives correspond to major projects of the ASC that include Working on the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Caribbean, Facilitating Language Training, Working on the Caribbean Sea Initiative, Coordinating the annual Business Forum of the Greater Caribbean, Defending the interests and treatment of Small Economies, Updating Building Codes, and Strengthening Disaster Agencies. These high-value projects play significant roles in the development of each segment in the Caribbean region whether it is trade or natural disasters.
Undoubtedly, the ACS facilitates consultation through a rich diversity of measures and tools, since each member-country of the ACS always remains informed about new projects, significant news releases, issues, statistics, data, etc. In fact, the ACS researches, releases and promotes huge amounts of information on the Caribbean region, ranging from the trade statistics and to small economies' prospects.
The major activities, through which the ACS facilitates consultation and cooperation, are meetings and forums. A premier event is the Business Forum of the Greater Caribbean that gathers the heads of the state and/or government of the ACS. The Forum offers businesspeople from the Greater Caribbean to meet with the purpose of identifying business opportunities, capable of securing markets for the main exports, as well as to promote closer relationships to suppliers of basic goods.
The ACS facilitates consultation of its member-countries through a daily interaction with member states, social partners, Founding Observer Organizations, regional and international organizations, donor agencies and countries on activities, meetings and fund raising.
The last, but not the least, the ACS facilitates consultation through its efficient website. The ACS's website contains a huge potential for learning and enhancing knowledge on the Greater Caribbean region, regularly upgraded. The sections cover all ACS's activities and cover major topics, such as Natural Disasters, Sustainable Tourism, and Development of Smaller Economies in detail. You can find here everything from the current economic situation and statistics to proposed tourist destinations and the coverage of the economic performance of the Caribbean in the 20th century.