Caribbean countries can expect financial assistance to prepare for natural disasters out of the upcoming International Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. The conference which takes place in Mauritius from January 10-14 will review the implementation of the programme of action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States which was drawn up in Barbados ten years ago. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) expects assistance to be forthcoming but Port of Spain-based deputy director Rudolph Buitelaar said the Caribbean and other developing island states should not expect to negotiate trade and financial investment issues with the developed world at the conference. Mr Buitelaar said while the industrial world recognises the special needs of developing states, it is quite unlikely that developed countries will negotiate assistance on trade, debt forgiveness and investment issues at the Mauritius conference. He said those issues are most likely to be dealt with in the context of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). However, Caricom's secretary general Edwin Carrington believes the Caribbean will expect more out of the Mauritius meeting than disaster preparedness assistance. The Caricom secretary general said the developed world must understand the link between the vulnerability of small island states to natural disasters and trade and other economic issues. He cited the example of every aspect of Grenadian life being impacted upon by Hurricane Ivan. "You cannot deal with poverty if you don't deal with globalization because gloablisation is an impoverising instrument for small and poor countries - it takes from the poor and gives to the rich." Barbadian Prime minister Owen Arthur and Prime Minister Said Musa of Belize are the two Caricom leaders who will be making the case for the Caribbean in Mauritius. Reprinted from bbccaribbean.com