"THIS was not just another Summit".

The words of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the closing session of the 3rd ACS Summit on December 12 seemed to sum up the feeling of the majority of leaders and delegates attending.

Among the summit's concrete accomplishments can be counted:

** 26 countries signed the Margarita Declaration and Plan of Action which sets out specific goals and targets for the next two years, with a mechanism for monitoring and implementation.

** 25 countries signed the Convention for the Establishment of the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Caribbean (STZC). The STZC will be the world's first such zone and is meant to guarantee the long-term viability of the region's tourism product.

The convention provides for the categorisation of destinations according to agreed standards of sustainability that are to be refined. Provision is to be made for technical assistance to help countries upgrade their tourist product to meet the established standards.

** An agreement signed between the ACS Secretariat and the OPEC Fund for International Development and Venezuela's Development Bank (BANDES) will facilitate increased access of ACS countries and the regional private sector to loans and technical assistance from the OPEC Fund.

Total commitments from this fund amount to US$6 billion but only a small proportion has gone to the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

** Another agreement signed between the ACS Secretariat and the International Francophone Organization provides for strengthening the French language capabilities of the Secretariat and of ACS member states.

** A Memorandum of Understanding signed between the ACS Secretariat and Venezuela's newly established Maritime University of the Caribbean provides for cooperation in maritime training for ACS member states. The university is to provide up to 100 scholarships for ACS nationals.

** An agreement between Venezuela and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) will facilitate technical assistance to ACS countries for cooperation projects.

** Eight countries in the region signed the Caracas Energy Agreement for the supply of oil from Venezuela on favourable terms.

** The Turkish Republic and the ACS also signed a cooperation agreement covering potential projects in trade, transport, sustainable tourism and especially natural disasters.

The Margarita Declaration begins with a pledge to establish the region of the Greater Caribbean as a Zone of Cooperation. This will consist initially of joint actions in the agreed ACS priority areas of trade, sustainable tourism, transport and natural disasters.

It establishes a mission to which all the member countries subscribe, irrespective of their membership in sub-regional integration schemes such as CARICOM and the Central American Integration System.

CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington, in assessing the results of the summit, remarked that the ACS is set to fulfil the potential laid out for it in the Report of the West Indian Commission, `Time for Action'.

At the summit, the growing feeling of fraternity and solidarity among leaders from the different language groupings was noticeable.

(Professor Norman Girvan is Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS.)