Costa Rican Foreign Min. visits Belize

The relationship between Belize and Costa Rica strengthened visibly today when an official delegation from that Central American nation’s newly elected government paid a short but important visit to the country. Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister, Roberto Tovar Faja, arrived this morning and met with Prime Minister Said Musa and other government officials to discuss new avenues of bilateral co-operation. According to Tovar, Belize and Costa Rica have agreed to form a bilateral commission to promote trade, investment and other opportunities.

Roberto Tovar Faja, Foreign Minister, Costa Rica

“From our own experiences, I know that we can help each other in matters as, in cultural, in social, economic ways and I would like to say that we would have to wait a little then to see those ideas that we have now to be transformed into gains. But I think that right now, the signing that we will be doing very, very soon is as itself, a tangible consequence of this visit.”

Assad Shoman, Foreign Minister, Belize

“We are hoping that there will be a trade mission very soon, I think first from Costa Rica to Belize, of businessmen and as well as maybe people from their tourist ministry and so on and then there will be a return visit. We want to sell them some beans, some papayas, some rice, they’ll be looking at that. They like the black beans, we produce that as well. So these are things that are tangible and will be tangible and we’re pretty confident. We feel very good about the emerging relationship.”

The Costa Rican delegation left Belize this evening. According to Belize’s foreign ministry, Tovar was part of the administration of former Costa Rican President Carrazo, that supported Belize’s independence in 1981.