The XVIII Meeting of the Technical Coordination Body (OCTA) of the Regional Cooperation Agreement for the Promotion of Nuclear Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (ARCAL) took place in Cancún, Mexico, from 8 to 11 May 2017. Following representatives of the State Parties to the Agreement were in attendance: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, together with a representative of Spain, as strategic partner of ARCAL, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in its capacity as Secretariat to the Agreement.
During the opening of the meeting, Ms Bibiana Gómez Muñoz, Director of International Affairs of the Ministry of Energy of Mexico, welcomed the participants. Ms Lydia Paredes Gutiérrez, Director General of the National Institute of Nuclear Research of Mexico (ININ) and National Coordinator of ARCAL, who assumed the Presidency of the OCTA for the period 2017-2019, also spoke at the opening, highlighting the importance of South - South Cooperation, as well as the collaboration among developing countries in the region, focusing on the contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Mr Luis Carlos Longoria Gándara, Director of the Division for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Department of Technical Cooperation at the IAEA, commended the collaboration between the Agency and ARCAL, which has significantly supported the development of the Latin American and Caribbean region on the basis of the different applications of nuclear technology.
