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Guyana in discussion with Dominican Republic for visa-free travel

Aug 06, 2009 News

Guyana and the Dominican Republic may sign an agreement allowing both countries citizens to travel without a visa.
Reports out of the Dominican Republic stated that the aim of the initiative is to increase trade and cultural interchange between the two nations.
On Tuesday, President Bharrat Jagdeo and President Leonel Fernandez dealt with the issue of the visa during a luncheon in the National Palace.
Jagdeo who is the current chairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), is on official visits to several Caribbean nations.
During a press conference in Jamaica, on Monday, the Guyanese leader stated that Caricom intends to approach multilateral lending agencies with proposals for debt relief and loan refinancing.
At the same time, the regional body has signalled its intent to press Venezuela to at least delay proposed changes to the PetroCaribe arrangement.
President Jagdeo also stated that with a recovery plan for the region, in light of the turbulent world economic recession, this may see Caribbean development stagnated if the proposals are not taken onboard.
He noted on Monday that a group of Heads of Government will go collectively to meet the heads of the multilateral financial institutions to argue that middle-income countries – with the peculiar vulnerability that the region has – must be eligible for multilateral debt relief.
Caricom countries, he said, will be seeking a ‘write-off at this point in time for a specific amount of debt’.
He argued that the region has been unable to react effectively to the economic crisis because of the indebtedness of many countries.
“If they do not, then the situation will get significantly worse. They will face serious balance of payment difficulties, they will have to run down reserves…most countries will have to push up interest rates,” the Chairman of Caricom emphasised.
The Heads will advocate for sufficient resources to refinance some of the debt that some member states have already contracted on commercial terms, or with high interest rates.
Jagdeo stated that there has been agreement to approach several countries, because to secure the support of the multilateral agencies would require political support from countries that are critical in the decision-making process at the level of the boards of the institutions, including China, the United Kingston and the United States.
It is hoped that meetings with multilateral Heads can begin by September, and the issue put on the table at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in October.
The Caricom Chairman also stated that regional states have agreed to approach Venezuela to discuss the impending changes to the PetroCaribe agreement.
According to Jadgeo, the change in the agreement now will present ‘grave difficulties’ for some member states.
PetroCaribe is a Caribbean alliance with Venezuela to purchase oil on preferential terms.
The payment system allows countries to buy oil at market value, but only a certain amount is needed up front. The remainder can be paid through a 25-year financing agreement at one per cent interest.

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