Antigua and Barbuda is making a pitch for investments from the Kingdom of
Qatar, one of the wealthiest nations on earth.
The invitation was extended by Prime Minister Gaston Browne to the new Qatari
Ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda, Yaser Awad Al-Abdulla, who paid a
courtesy call to the Prime Minister on Tuesday.
“One of the areas where we feel that there could be some collaboration is in the
area of natural gas. We have just installed a natural gas plant here, with a US firm,
Eagle, but in terms of the supply of natural gas, we could perhaps purchase from
Qatar. There is an opportunity for us, from next year and onwards, because most of
the cruise ships will be powered by LNG and there’s no LNG terminal in the
Caribbean. So, we are aspiring to establish an LNG terminal here, and we would
like you to report to your capital about our offer, to see if the government of Qatar
or the private sector would wish to invest in a joint venture with the government to
establish an LNG terminal here,” PM Browne offered.
Prime Minister Browne also suggested to the Qatari ambassador that there could be
student exchanges between universities in the Middle Eastern country and the
University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus.
During a similar courtesy call on Foreign Affairs Minister, E. P. Chet Greene, the
minister used the opportunity to reach out to Qatar for assistance in Antigua and
Barbuda’s hosting of the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) conference next
year.
Greene noted that small island states are forced to deal with the consequences of
natural disasters that are made more destructive, because of the effects of climate
change. The meeting, he noted, will be an attempt by these states to arrive at
common positions to deal with the issue.
Ambassador Al-Abdulla gave his country’s commitment to work along with
Antigua and Barbuda in hosting the conference, even to the point of offering
technical assistance, as Qatar has much experience in hosting major events.
Foreign Affairs Minister Greene expressed his appreciation for the offer from the
Qatari ambassador. “We are grateful for the support of Qatar in hosting the
conference. We also note Qatar’s global leadership in the area of climate change
and so this meeting is very important for small island states. As we sit today, we
are watching a weather system that may affect us by the weekend. When we have
these weather systems affecting us they have a debilitating effect on our economy
and disruptions to our lives,” he noted.
The Qatari ambassador invited the Antigua and Barbuda government to detail its
several requests to his government in a formal request for which he promised a
speedy response.
