SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – 30th January, 2015…….Prime Minister the Honourable Gaston Browne rounded off a series of bilateral meetings at the Third CELAC Summit in Costa Rica on Thursday with a bilateral encounter with President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela.
Prime Minister Browne characterized the meeting as one that was very important to the energy future of Antigua and Barbuda, as well as to Antigua’s economic development.
Both leaders discussed the just-concluded CELAC Summit and stressed the necessity for solidarity on issues that affected the CELAC membership. The Antiguan leader congratulated President Maduro on his statement during the plenary session, where Maduro made an impassioned plea for the CELAC member countries to remain true to the values and ideals of earlier visionary leaders of the Latin American and Caribbean region.
The bilateral talks with Venezuela centred on plans to restructure the ownership of the West Indies Oil Company (WIOC). PM Browne invited Venezuela to take up a stake in WIOC and to partner with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda as majority shareholder in transforming WIOC into a key distribution centre for petroleum products in the Eastern Caribbean.
‘I was impressed by the positive reaction of the Venezuelan President to our proposals,’ said PM Browne, ‘and I think this augurs well for the kind of strategic partnership that we are seeking to establish with Venezuela.’
The Prime Minister pointed out that utilizing US$24 million being made available through ALBA Bank, the Government would facilitate the expansion of the share ownership of WIOC on very favourable terms.
‘This will be a reinvigoration of WIOC,’ Browne emphasized, ‘transforming the company into a modern, efficient and more profitable organization that can leverage the strengths of Venezuela as a leading world oil power.’
Prime Minister Browne stated that WIOC would benefit from increased investment, transfer of technology and more efficient management. He indicated that, in the coming days, his Government would be following up on the historic pact by finalizing the details and inking the deal.
