Guyana, Venezuela in trade deals

Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo and his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez are reported to have signed five trade and energy deals. GINA photo)

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Thursday July 22, 2010 – Guyana has reportedly agreed to several trade and energy pacts with Venezuela.

The French news agency, AFP, is reporting that President Bharrat Jagdeo and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez signed the agreements during the Guyanese President’s visit to Caracas.

The five deals include the sale to Venezuela of 50,000 tons of rice with oil subsidies which will be paid for through the Petrocaribe energy cooperation mechanism and Venezuela’s export of jet fuel to Guyana.

President Bharrat Jagdeo arrived earlier in the day to a ceremonial welcome. 

His visit signals a deepening of relations between Guyana and Venezuela especially in the area of trade. The growing relations between the two countries have been driven through the foreign policies of both countries as the two nations maintain intense trade in mineral, food, chemicals and wood.

The Guyana President is accompanied on his trip by Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee and Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Elisabeth Harper.