Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and the Netherlands agree to Mutual Regulation for cooperation on reforms

THE HAGUE (The Netherlands) - With the signatures of the Prime Ministers of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten and the state secretary of Kingdom Relations under a new Mutual Regulation, the legal basis has been laid for sustainable cooperation for public sector reforms in the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom.  Besides financial, economic and social reforms it also covers reforms in other areas, such as education, healthcare and strengthening the rule of law.

For the past two years, the reforms have been implemented on the basis of the country packages of the Caribbean countries. The aim is to increase the economic resilience and the administrative governance within the countries in the interest of their inhabitants. These reforms are needed to address the various vulnerabilities the countries face when dealing with economic setbacks due to disasters such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new Mutual Regulation is the instrument deployed for sustainable cooperation within the Kingdom. The agreement is based on equality, ownership and commonality. It also includes mutual commitment. For instance, the governments of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten commit to working on the implementation of reforms for the next four years. In turn, the Netherlands commits to providing the necessary support to implement the reforms. This will be done by providing implementation capacity and financial resources.

Based on the new Mutual Regulation, the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom, each, together with the Netherlands, draw up implementation agendas. These contain measures and projects aimed at the realization of the intended reforms within the public sector. The Implementation of the reforms is primarily the responsibility of the government of those countries.