SURINAME/TURKEY DISCUSS AIRLINK, EMBASSY OPENING, AND INVESTMENTS RAY CHICKRIE
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Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu became the first Turkish Foreign Minister to visit Suriname. On Friday morning during a press conference with the Surinamese Foreign Minister, Yildiz Beighle-Pollack, they announced several initiatives to expand economic, political and cultural ties with the soon opening of a Turkish Embassy in Paramaribo signalling seriousness to expand ties.
Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said that Turkey and Suriname have agreed to develop relations in the field of economic cooperation… and added “ bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Suriname is still low but continues to grow.”
The Turkish diplomat said that Suriname is an attractive country in the region for foreign
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investors, and added, “Turkish companies are becoming more interested in investing in Suriname especially in tourism and infrastructure projects.”
This is good news for the President of Suriname, Desi Bouterse who Cavusoglu had a meeting with on Friday. The Boutesse government welcomed the Turkish top diplomatic during a red carpet welcome and a military salute. Bouterse personally supervised the expansion of Suriname/Turkish ties. The Turkish visit by Cavusoglu and the upcoming Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi to Paramaribo, has embolden the Surinamese president.
Indeed for Bouterse, this is all good news . He has been seeking a cooperation agreement with state owned
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Turkish Airlines (THY) since 2016. Also, under an agreement between the Islamic Bank and Turkish Airlines, state owned airline, Surinam Airways (SLM) can receive training and support from Turkish Airlines. Suriname belongs to the 57-group Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). The Islamic Bank will also open a regional office and the first in the Western hemisphere in Paramaribo.
Turkey announced in Paramaribo on Friday plans to open an embassy there and wherever there is a Turkish Embassy, Turkish Airlines flies there. Hence, the two countries announced also that by year end, they will abolish visa requirements for their nationals travelling between the two countries.
Çavuşoğlu said, “We believe that visa-free travel will increase the inter-enterprise contact and bring our people closer together.”
He underlined the two countries will abolish visa in the future because it will contribute to increase trade and increase interaction between the people.
Pollack-Beighle raised the issue of air transport between Suriname, the Caribbean and Latin America. She made a point about Suriname’s strategic position that can emerge as a hub. The Bouterse government and all previous governments have struggled to develop Suriname’s rich and unique tourism industry.
Suriname and Turkey agreed to advance technical cooperation in education, health, restoration, agriculture, finance, and tourism. Suriname which is planning to build an industrial park up river, invited Turkey to invest in the project. It was also announced that the Turkish International Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) will commit to fund education and health care projects in Suriname. Tika will build a hospital in Suriname.
“We agreed to implement projects in our country in areas such as health and hospital construction,” Pollack-Beighle said.
They also agreed to fight terrorism. “We can establish peace and security by continuing to fight terrorism, international organized crime and climate change as two countries,” said Pollack-Beighle. She also added that Suriname wants closer cooperation with the OIC.
An estimated 13.6 billion barrels of oil and 32 trillion cubic feet of natural gas probably exist in the Guyana-Suriname Basin according to scientific information. As a result, US ExxonMobil and Tullow Oil have found substantial oil reserves offshore Guyana, and this is why the Guiana Shield are drawing diplomatic attention from all corners of the world. It’s only a matter of time before Suriname also makes a big hit.
Turkey is an economic giant and a major manufacturing center. The country is poised to have the world largest airline, and the largest airport in the world. It’s the world 17th largest economy and with a population about about 80 million.
SOURCE | HENRI MAC DONALD
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