VI keen on establishing tourism links with Brazil– Premier Wheatley
During an update on March 1, 2024, on the recently concluded 46th Regular Meeting of the Heads of Government of CARICOM, Hon Wheatley said he had talks with the President of Brazil.
“Importantly, I also participated in a special session between CARICOM Heads and our highly respected Latin American partner the President of Brazil, His Excellency Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who is currently the Chair of the G20,” he said.
Dr Wheatley added that the deliberations with President Lula were warm and friendly and both sides committed to strengthening the partnership between Brazil and CARICOM.
“The areas identified for cooperation were regional security, transportation, infrastructure, sustainable development, climate change, global governance, and trade,” he said.
Hon Wheatley noted that for the Virgin Islands, "we are particularly keen on establishing links with Brazil, especially sailing and the wider marine sector as Brazil is the biggest market in Latin America and there is a need to tap their market as as the VI diversifies our tourism source markets."
Liat 2024 & inter-island fast ferry
Meanwhile, Hon Wheatley shared that CARICOM Heads also discussed regional transportation and that he is very pleased that progress is being made toward the launch of LIAT 2024 and inter-island fast ferry service between CARICOM Member States to help address the regional transportation challenges faced in the Caribbean.
The Premier reminded that traveling from the Virgin Islands to other parts of the Caribbean, especially going south, can be very difficult and these types of solutions are desperately needed to improve transportation connectivity.
“Of course, we also discussed climate change, sustainable development and the need for greater support to Small Islands Developing States from the international community to support our response to these issues. More advocacy work must be done in the lead-up to the next COP Meeting, including gaining international acceptance for the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index as a new metric in considering concessional financing to SIDS,” he said.
As previously raised, the Premier said it remains unfair that the Virgin Islands and other countries and Territories in CARICOM categorised as middle or high-income are locked out of this international support because of GDP per capita that does not capture high vulnerability to the negative impacts of climate change.
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17 Responses to “VI keen on establishing tourism links with Brazil– Premier Wheatley”
"How do you develop tourism links with a country 2000 miles away?" You know people can travel right?