The Government of Guyana says it remains appreciative of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’ PetroCaribe regional energy agreement which “has made a significant impact on the country’s development” and now encompasses a fertilizer pact.
A statement from the Government of Guyana yesterday said that the Summit, the first convened under recently elected President of Venezuela Nicholas Maduro, reaffirmed the country’s commitment to the initiative.
The meeting, the 9th Ministerial Council of Petro Caribe and the 8th Summit of PetroCaribe Heads of State was attended by Prime Minister Sam Hinds, Guyana’s Ambassador to Venezuela Geoffrey Da Silva, CEO of the Guyana Energy Agency Mahender Sharma and Roopchand Bissessar, Protocol Officer.
According to the statement dated May 15, 2013, PetroCaribe, dubbed as the strategic shield, was the brainchild of the late President Hugo Chavez. “PetroCaribe is an instrument designed to facilitate the development of energy policies and the integration of the Caribbean nations through the sovereign use of natural energy sources to directly benefit the people,” the statement said.
The summit expressed satisfaction so far at the progress made by this integration mechanism and recognised the need to reinvigorate and strengthen the PetroCaribe and ALBA energy cooperation scheme.
According to the statement, the summit acknowledged the results attained through Fair Trade and encouraged the Working Group to continue with the effective implementation of the Oil Bill Compensation Handbook and took note of the Venezuela-proposed PetroCaribe Economic Zone, which is intended to deepen the progress made by the organisation with a view to developing the production sectors of member States, based on the linkage of production chains which would generate economic surplus and would make cooperation sustainable in the context of PetroCaribe.
The summit agreed to convene the Council of Ministers of Economy and other Government cooperation areas related to the development of the PetroCaribe Economic Zone and took note of the proposal to start the technical studies and discussions for the creation of the system of PetroCaribe Bilateral Integration Funds (FOBIP), as a financial mechanism for production linkages and trade revitalisation under the PetroCaribe Region al Development Mechanism. The statement said that the summit agreed that the Bank of ALBA would be the financial institution which would support the design of projects and the management of the funds of PetroCaribe.
At the summit the Heads of State signed two agreements: one for the Economic Zone and the other for fertiliser supply.
