Ministry of Civil Aviation at 41st International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly
Minister of Blue Economy and Civil Aviation, Andre Perez is heading a delegation from his ministry to the Forty-First International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly in Montreal, Canada. Minister Perez and his team met with Doctor Amy Khor, the Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport, Sustainability and the Environment of Singapore. According to a release, a central topic was Singapore’s support for the development of the Belize Airport Hub City and that country’s continued support for capacity building for the technical staff of the Belize Department of Civil Aviation. Late this afternoon and in between meetings, Minister Perez gave the media some comments on the sessions.
Andre Perez
Andre Perez, Minister of Civil Aviation
“We are here basically holding bilateral talks with different countries seeking support to increase the aviation industry by enforcing and having this plan for the next five years. We are saying and telling our partners here that we are open for business. We want to expand the air cargo hub, a concept that we have, and this is the right place where we need to be to reach out to the people that we have already arranged and the talks are ongoing and it has been very fruitful. Two countries that stand out that we have something in common with them is as it relates to the strategic location that they are and they have taken advantage of that is Singapore and Taiwan. Singapore is a small country, yet the moving of cargo and the amount of passengers they move is incredible, simply because they have learnt to use their strategic location and capitalise on it. Another country that serves as well as an air cargo hub and is strategically located is Taiwan as well. Now, Belize is strategically located in Central America and the Caribbean so we are talking about using that. They are telling us, even senior people in ICAOA is telling us Belize you are right there, it’s your moment, it is time for you to push, it’s time for you to come up with this concept and this is where we have started. It is a long term. It is not for me to be sitting here to say I want to get elected in the next two three years, it is a long term of fifteen twenty years. It is starting now to plant that seed of growth.”
Minister Perez, who is joined by C.E.O. Kennedy Carrillo and others from the Civil Aviation Department, also met with Minister of Transport of Qatar, Jassim, Bin Saif Bin Ahmed Al Sulaiti to discuss support for the Belize Airport Hub concept as well as a feasibility study and transition plan for the devolution of the Belize Department of Civil Aviation to a Civil Aviation Authority. The meeting concluded with the signing of an air services agreement to facilitate air transport activities between the two countries.
