Yesterday, our news team told you from Antigua, Guatemala that CARICOM may be losing confidence in Belize as the bridge between Central America and the Caribbean.
That's after the OAS in concert with Guatemala's Minister of Economy hosted a meeting between Caribbean and Central American Business Leaders - and Belize didn't make any representation.
His Excellency, Nestor Mendez, the Belize Permanent Representative to the OAS, put it in context that the Assistant Secretary General sent several reminders to him to relay the importance of the meeting, and unfortunately, Belize didn't show up.
Well, today, we got a chance to ask Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Mike Singh, the CEO in the Ministry of Trade, about that major hiccup.
Here's what how they responded:
Reporter
"The pre-OAS, the business meeting between CARICOM and CICA - why wasn't Belize represented at that affair?"
Mike Singh - CEO, Ministry of Trade
"Well we were invited to attend - there was an invitation that came to the Minister via BELTRAIDE, that invitation came to me and I had sent a request that since the Minster would be in Guatemala for the Guatemala Investment even along with the Executive Director of BELTRAIDE that we would also make an effort to attend that meeting. I was actually not in Guatemala, contrary to what the news reported - I was in Tortola, British Virgin Islands at another investment forum which I sit as an advisory Regional Trade and Investment. In respect to that particular meeting, that was one meetings in a series of many meetings in Guatemala where Belize was represented either by the Diplomatic Core or in this case by BELTRAIDE by the Minster at the other investment forum. That forum happened on a Saturday. The travel plans from what I understand were done previous to receiving the invitation so that the Minister and the Executive Director traveled on that day and for that reason they did not attend that meeting. In respect to if whether Belize lost any ground by not attending that meeting."
Reporter
"Someone else attended that meeting for you."
Mike Singh
"Well it would have had to be one of the two people that were there which was the Minster and the Executive Director but as I said their meeting was in Guatemala City when this meeting was in Antigua. The travel plans on that day did not fall within the convenience of going to that meeting. As to whether or not that decision was made on the spot - I was not there so I don't really know."
Reporter
"What have we lost being - the OAS website reports that hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investment were presented from the different countries available. Haiti is the next meeting for next year, have we lost anything?"
Mike Singh
"Well Jose the other meeting was really the similar type meeting - there were investors from all over Central America and the other meeting where the Minister was at -he met with some of the major business leaders in Central America."
Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister of Belize
"At the Costa Rica session where CICA heads met with Obama, in my intervention I put squarely on the table the fact that in addition to the bi-lateral partial scope agreements that Belize is negotiating with individual CICA countries, I made the point that in terms of the volumes of trade on our Western Border, those have increased exponentially as a consequence of the signing of the agreement with Guatemala. That colleague heads in CICA should recognize that Belize is the portal through which the CICA countries could access the 14 member, there is one member of CARICOM that is not part of the common market arrangement - but that Belize is the portal through which CICA could access the CARICOM market. So at the highest level I underlined and gave special emphasis to this portal or bridge concept."
According to Singh and Barrow, Belize has attended many of these forums, and it has been highlighted that at the highest level in the Government of Belize, they attach the great importance of the strategic location Belize holds between Central America and the Caribbean.
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