Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Sint Maarten Minister Plenipotentiary Josianne Fleming-Artsen, recently received a courtesy call from Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia, Igor Popov.
“The Ambassador appeared interested in the functioning of country Sint Maarten as an autonomous entity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, considering that Holland appears to be an important trade partner of Macedonia representing an annual mutual trade volume of about €800 million.
“Ambassador Popov is seeking to enhance and benefit from this economic opportunity with the Netherlands by extending its commercial relationship with the other members of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, namely the Dutch Caribbean partners.
“The following areas of possible mutual cooperation were discussed during the meeting: maritime cooperation, tourism, trade of food products, information technology, and education.
“The Ambassador was particularly interested in exploring the possibility of using Sint Maarten as a hub to distribute its products to potential recipients in regional markets. This is a great opportunity for our country.
“As a result of this the Ambassador is planning an official visit to the Dutch Caribbean in January/February 2016, and he will be accompanied by the State Secretary for Economic Affairs of Macedonia. This visit should be considered as an in-bound trade mission whereby they would like to have the opportunity to –besides government- meet as well with members of the private sector and Chamber of Commerce.
“In preparation thereof, the Ambassador would consider organizing in Macedonia a special International Trade Conference for the region with participation of the following neighbouring countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Kosovo, and for which relevant government and private sector representatives from the Dutch Caribbean would be invited to enable business match making.
“It was suggested that a Memorandum of Understanding could be signed with the Dutch Caribbean partners during their intended visit in 2016,†Minister Plenipotentiary Josianne Fleming-Artsen said on Tuesday.
Present at the meeting was from Minister Plenipotentiary Josianne Fleming – Artsen, and the Director of the Cabinet, Perry Geerlings.
Macedonia is a former Yugoslav Republic.
