A bilateral meeting in the Surinamese capital, Paramaribo, between Suriname’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation, Albert Ramdin, and Trinidad and Tobago Energy Minister, Stuart Young would appear to be pointing in the direction of an eventual tri-lateral ‘sit down’ involving Port of Spain, Paramaribo and George-town on issues linked to regional energy security. The three being the only prominent energy ‘players’ in the region, such talks will have a wider significance in a heavily energy-dependent region.
Word of likely energy discourses among the three countries arose against the backdrop of Suriname’s energy, oil and gas summit and exhibition, 2023 which concluded last Wednesday. Back in 20i5, Guyana, joined Trinidad and Tobago as the region’s two oil-producing countries though Suriname is widely believed to be on the threshold of following suit. A Tuesday June 20 statement issued by Young suggested that serious intra-regional energy talks may now be beginning to take shape. “We discussed the potential of regional integration and in particular the role that we could play along with other CARICOM member states in providing regional and extra regional energy security,” Young is quoted as saying. A Trinidad and Tobago June 20 Guardian report also quoted Young as saying that he looked forward to participating in discourses with Ramdin and Guyana’s Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud in a ministerial roundtable on “Strategic Regional Cooperation: Challenges and Benefits” which was due to be held on Tuesday.