Barbados has signed agreements with Guyana and Suriname aimed at enhancing cooperation and the exploitation of opportunities in several areas of economic activities.
Bridgetown and Paramaribo signed the St. Barnabas Accord while Georgetown and Bridgetown signed on to the Barbados/Guyana agreement as Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders ended their three-day summit in Suriname on Tuesday.
“The truth is that we have seen already, substantive engagement between our private sectors. We’ve seen substantive engagement with ordinary people in sports and in other areas. And we are also seeing a very strong and continuous relationship with the government and people of Suriname because we believe that we have an obligation to work with people in our neighborhood,” Prime Minister Mia Mottley said.
“And you are one of those who, for every reason, it is only language and history that have separated us thus far. And we have come to this point over the last few years to say that that should no longer be a barrier.”
She said Suriname is a major player in fisheries industry, and it is also the location of the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA), which is responsible for the regulation of sanitary and phytosanitary measures within the 15-member grouping.
“And if we want to expand our trade in food, if we want to have food security, CAHFSA is going to play a critical role in allowing us to be able to do so,” Mottley said, promising that Bridgetown will share what little it has with its neighbors in Suriname, who were badly affected by flooding in recent weeks because “today for you, tomorrow for me.
“President Santohki, we have worked perhaps closer in the last two years because of COVID, and the truth is, even though it led to a hiatus in the Brokopondo Agreement, … particularly with the physical exchange, especially when we were getting ready to do the exchange of workers in the agricultural sector and persons coming here.
“What we have been able to do in the interim has been to cooperate significantly with respect to issues with the pandemic and with climate. And we want to build on that going forward now.”
The St. Barnabas Accord, which was negotiated in Barbados, and signed in Suriname provides for interaction between the two countries in agriculture, aquaculture, and food security as well as mining and quarrying, tourism and international transport, trade and business development and energy.
It will also provide for cooperation in manufacturing, education, technical and vocational training, security, and bilateral integration measures.
The two countries have also agreed on the creation of a joint working group on food and nutritional security comprising ministries responsible for agriculture and health, state-owned agricultural and marketing corporations, and private sector representatives.
Regarding the agreement signed with Guyana, the two countries agreed that Barbados will export to Guyana 1,000 artificially inseminated black belly sheep in tranches, establish a company to manage the black belly sheep production and the creation of a youth program which includes differently- abled persons to work on a rotational basis on a 50-acre farm in Guyana.
In addition, Guyana will lease to Barbados land at a concessional rate for the purpose of joint partnership in animal husbandry and poultry rearing including poultry feed production and for the production of flowers, food crops inclusive of breadfruit, cassava, plantains, pineapple, bananas, passion fruit, oranges, and coconuts.
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