P.M. Updates Nation On Travels

Prime Minister John Briceño continues his working visit to far-flung countries across the globe and is currently in Lisbon, Portugal, for the United Nations Oceans Conference. Prior to his trip to Portugal, P.M. Briceño was in Belgium to participate in the European Development Days. He was also in Kigali, Rwanda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2022. At the conclusion of his trip to Portugal, Belize’s head of government travels to Suriname to hand over the chairmanship of CARICOM. He will then call on President Irfaan Ali in Guyana to discuss matters related to agriculture. We haven’t heard from the Prime Minister since his departure on June sixteenth. That was until today when he held a virtual press conference from Lisbon. The time in that capital city was ten p.m., which was around three p.m. Belize time. He spoke on a number of issues which we will share in tonight’s newscast. But first, he gave us an update on his working visits.

Prime Minister John Briceño

Prime Minister John Briceño

“What we had done is that is that initially we had agreed to go to Rwanda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government. We felt like that was an important meeting, and also we had the election of the Secretary General. So, it was important for Belize to be at that meeting and to be able to meet with our peers from Canada, the UK and other countries. But then, an invitation came to us from the European Union to attend this conference that they had. This is the first time that a Prime Minister from Belize has been invited to this conference. The EU is one for our biggest partners in development. For example, they just approved seventeen million euro for us to help us in different work in the rural areas, energy, and so forth. So we felt that it was important for me to attend that meeting. At the same time, it was important for me to meet the people that were making these decisions as to whether they were going to help Belize or not. So, I had a number of meetings, including with the European Development Bank, who is expressing interest in coming to Belize.”