Suriname-Barbados link ‘pays dividend’

Barbados’ newly intensified collaboration with fellow CARICOM nation Suriname has already begun to bear fruit in farming, with the promise of “a lot more” cooperation to come, said a Suriname senior official as the two governments met here for bilateral talks.

Permanent Secretary in Suriname’s foreign ministry Miriam McIntosh noted the enthusiasm of both countries in exploring how much more can be gleaned from the bilateral arrangement.

Speaking at the third meeting of the Barbados-Suriname Joint Commission, at the Accra Beach Hotel this morning, McIntosh praised the political will of both Bridgetown and Paramaribo for “fast” progress on the farming initiatives that are intended to leverage the South American nation’s vast land and water resources to boost food production. 

She said: “After we had signed the agreement for the programme, we had worked tirelessly to identify areas and start the real process of cooperation.

“I can recall in the agricultural sphere, we have already had successes in the importation of duck meat and that is because of the hard work put into this cooperation.”

Exports of Barbados black belly sheep to the Dutch-speaking CARICOM nation were also on the cards, she said.

The Surinamese official noted that the two governments were actively looking into other areas of cooperation that  would boost construction and technological advancements.

McIntosh said: “We are looking at the exportation of sand to Barbados because we have those natural resources.

“We are also looking at sharing best practices in the rearing of animals.

“So as you see there is some that we have started but there is a lot more to come.”

She added: “In the joint commission today we would discuss further possibilities in the area of tourism, sports, culture, education  and energy.

“We have a very ambitious programme of cooperation and we had to be ambitious because of the energy between our president and Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

“We had no choice but to be ambitious in the undertaking.”