(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO/CASTRIES – The cooperation with Equatorial Guinea will get more concrete with a return visit by President Desi Bouterse to his colleague Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea and the signing of several agreements this week.
Bouterse and a government delegation left for a four-day state visit to the African country yesterday. President Obiang sent a plane especially to pick him up. Equatorial Guinea’s President was in Suriname for a few days in February for bilateral talks with Bouterse. Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Lackin tells de Ware Tijd that the visit to Equatorial Guinea has been prepared since last year, when he paid a working visit to that country’s capital Malabo.
During Bouterse’s visit, several agreements will be signed, including in the areas of mutual trade, water exports, investments, visa arrangements and combating malaria. Lackin explains that plans are to get trade started between Suriname and Equatorial Guinea, and that the private sector will therefore be involved, as it is this sector which must fill in the possibilities of engaging in more trade with Africa.
On the other hand, Suriname sees options for water exports to Equatorial Guinea, which has a pressing shortage of clean and safe potable water. With regard to combating malaria, Suriname will provide technical assistance for setting up programs and actions to fight this disease. Suriname is among the countries which have combated the malaria mosquito effectively and have brought the disease under control, while Equatorial Guinea’s malaria problem is a serious one and claims many lives. “We will also sign a visa abolition agreement and one to establish diplomatic missions in our countries.” Lackin says.
