Dear fellow countrymen,
Thank you for allowing me once again to provide information on the developments regarding the talks we have had with the Netherlands, in order to reach an agreement on financing and sustainable cooperation.
I am pleased to report that we have managed to make significant progress in the negotiations with the Netherlands. This time, too, the negotiations were not easy. It is hard work and the subject matter is often complicated, but the hard work by both countries in recent weeks has borne fruit. Much effort has been made on both sides to understand each other and even more to understand the position and needs of Curaçao.
For example, there have been intensive discussions about the reform package (Country Package). An implementation agenda has been added. The objectives that the Netherlands wants us to implement are clearly defined in this, but more importantly, we have defined what we would like to achieve ourselves.
We set this agenda together, so a team from the Netherlands and a team from Curaçao, together. It will be given substance so that the reforms and investments actually take place, in order to better serve the interests of the Curaçao people. We have also succeeded in making the package not only contain reforms but also investments in our economic and social development. In the total package, the Netherlands offers Curaçao the space to present "business cases" for additional investment projects.
Only in this way can we actually grow through innovation and sustainable investment. More points have been addressed, but as indicated earlier, we cannot reveal everything as negotiations are still ongoing.
There was also intensive consultation on the Caribbean Reform Entity Act and its explanatory memorandum. It is very important to emphasize once again that one of the most important points is that our autonomy is guaranteed.
The Council of Ministers was given a presentation on the Reform Package (National Package) in its last meeting and commented on what the technical team has proposed. Discussions at a technical level about the Kingdom Act are continuing. We hope that we can also complete this in the coming days. After a political agreement on the content of the entire package, this can be discussed in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom, so that the Act can then sent to the Council of States and our Advisory Council, to ultimately go to Parliament for consideration. At the same time, the funding we need will be available to us and cooperation with the Netherlands can be initiated.
I thank the community for the maturity and patience shown in recent weeks, for the space given to us to continue negotiations.
Now is the time to take action for the benefit of all! There is no more leeway to get this done. The hour has come to unite and put our country back on the road to recovery. That will not be easy. The road is still long, but we feel the urgency. We must implement reforms that have been discussed for a long time but have never been realized. We must have the courage to really invest in what we already knew that makes us great; namely in our people!
All this, while going through calamities that have hit us harder than ever in history. But we'll find a way out of this.
Only in this way, with a cool head, but with great ambition and determination, will we be successful.
Thank you.
