A delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will visit St. Vincent and the Grenadines to meet with Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and other government officials from Tuesday to Thursday (Aug. 9- 11).
The visiting delegation will arrive from Antigua and Barbuda and will be led by Director of Commercial and Government Relations, Minister of State Office, Khalid Al Mannai.
The other members of the visiting delegation are Diplomatic Attaché, Ministry of Foreign Affairs- Maha Alhebsi, Senior Manager- Commercial, DP World- Shehab AlJasmi, Senior Operations Manager, DP World- Hassan Matar Mohammad, Renewable Energy Expert, Masdar- John Robert Caruso and Vice President, Route Planning and Economics, Emirates Airlines- Trevor David Chang.
On Wednesday, the delegation will meet with Prime Minister Gonsalves, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Commerce, Sir Louis Straker and Minister of Economic Planning, Sustainable Development, Industry, Information and Labour, Camillo Gonsalves.
Wednesday’s agenda also includes a meeting with the Minister of Transport and Works, Sen. Julian Francis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Land and Seaport Development, Godfred Pompey and Chief Executive Officer of the SVG Port Authority, Bishen John.
The delegation and local officials will then tour the port facilities in Kingstown.
As part of the visit, the UAE delegation will also meet with the Minister of Education, St. Clair Prince and Minister of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Frederick Stephenson.
There will also be a visit to the Argyle International Airport, the largest capital project in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where they will be taken on a tour of the facility and meet with Minister of Tourism, Sport and Culture, Cecil McKie, Chief Executive Officer of the SVG Tourism Authority, Glen Beache, Chairman of the Board of the Argyle International Airport, Garth Saunders and Chief Executive Officer of the International Airport Development Company, Rudy Matthias.
The delegation will wrap up its visits on Thursday with a meeting with Director of the Energy Unit, Ellsworth Dacon and Chief Executive Officer of the St. Vincent Electricity Services Limited, Thornley Myers. They will then meet with the Director of Economic Planning, Laura Anthony-Browne to discuss the Zero Hunger Initiative and Dubai Cares and will also meet with Director of the National Emergency Management Organisation, Nemo, Howie Prince.
At the launch of the “Adopt a Classroom” programme under the Zero Hunger Initiative last week, Minister Gonsalves announced that St. Vincent and the Grenadines will host a delegation from the United Arab Emirates, specifically Dubai as they had expressed an interest in the Zero Hunger Trust Fund. “We are becoming a shining example for the rest of the region on how to tackle in a targeted way the issue of poverty and hunger,” he said then.
(D.John/API)
I hope the Comrade begs them to build a thousand room resort somewhere — anywhere – on the island and pay for all the empty seats on the dozens of weekly international flights that will soon be landing at Argyle.
Allahu Akbar!
They are really too shrewd to be doing that, we will get nothing from them for nothing.
It is rather strange that a visiting delegation will be meeting with so many gov’t departments.
These people will skin Dr Salt alive, the Italians own Canouan the Arabs will own the rest of SFG unless they are handled properly. That will mean the whole of the family dynasty plantation will be gone with its slaves.
Desperate men do desperate things.