The Medina administration favors opening a Dominican embassy in Antigua and Barbuda, the Antigua Observer reports. The government of Antigua & Barbuda has offered the land where the embassy would be built by the Dominican government. A mission of the Ministry of Foreign Relations will travel to the island to look into the matter and explore other ways to establish formal diplomatic relations and strengthen bilateral ties.
The announcement follows the visit of Antigua & Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne to participate in the 5th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) that took place 24-25 January 2017 in Punta Cana. There he met with President Danilo Medina and Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado and expressed his interest in strengthening relations.
As reported in the Antigua Observer, Browne highlighted the tremendous potential of the relations between both countries, which is underpinned by strong people-to-people links, and joint coordination in regional forums such as CELAC and the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM). The Antigua Prime Minister said Antigua and Barbuda would welcome the further development of investment and business ties with the Dominican Republic, and pointed out that island would serve as an excellent platform for trade reach into OECS and CARICOM markets.
Browne was one of only three heads of government from the English-speaking Caribbean that came for the regional meeting. The others were President Charles Savarin of Dominica and Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Michael Holness.
Browne also mentioned the possibility of exploring bilateral cooperation in the area of health-care, given that the Dominican Republic possesses expertise and high-level medical facilities that can be utilized by Antiguans seeking medical treatment abroad.
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Antigua Observer
31 January 2017
