NEWLY accredited Ambassador of Spain to Guyana, Mr. José María Fernández López de Turiso submitted his Letters of Credence to President Donald Ramotar at Office of the President on Wednesday. 

During his stay here, the Spanish diplomat, accompanied by Honorary Consul of Spain to Guyana, Mr. Brian Tiwarie, met with acting Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Irfaan Ali, and said he was greatly

impressed by the latter’s willingness to collaborate with the Spanish Government in the Tourism Sector.
The envoy said the Spanish Government is willing to help Guyana expand and develop mechanisms for training in tourism, which would further assist in that sector.
The Ambassador boasted that some 60 million tourists visited Spain in 2013 alone and that Guyana was a potential tourist haven for Spain, considering the vast investments already made in that industry.
This undertaking between the two Governments would, essentially, open the floodgates for an influx of tourists into Guyana, thus generating maximum returns to the local economy.
As a gesture of good intent, de Turiso extended an invitation to Minister Ali to visit the Kingdom of Spain in February 2015, for bilateral talks to explore possible avenues for development in Guyana’s tourism sector.
He said that could see more Spanish tourists coming into this country.

Subsequent to meeting with Minister Ali, the Spanish Ambassador, along with Spain’s Honorary Consul to Guyana, Brian Tiwarie, and Public Relations Consultant of Tagman Media, Mr. Alex Graham, were invited to the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Diamond Distillery, at East Bank Demerara, to observe the operations there.

WORLD-CLASS RUM
DDL’s El Dorado brand remains a highly competitive world-class rum, sales of which form a ready avenue for investment by Spanish entities looking to market Guyanese products, thereby taking Guyana’s produce further internationally.
The tour was facilitated by Quality Director of DDL, Ms. Sharon Sue-Hang-Baksh, who informed the Ambassador that DDL produces some 55,000 litres of pure alcohol per day and has both a highly environmental and economic operation which uses methane gas derived from waste material to aid its distillation process.
According to Tiwarie, the aim of the visit was for the Ambassador to be enlightened on the operations of the factory, with a small guide through the history of distillery in Guyana.
“We can do business,” the Ambassador was quoted as saying following his visit to the distillery.
Sue-Hang-Baksh said the climate in Guyana is ideal for rum production, since the aging and blending processes are not hampered by rapidly changing temperatures which result in the liquor aging four times faster than other rums.
At the conclusion of the tour, the Ambassador was invited to sample a line of the finest quality DDL products, led by the flagship El Dorado 15 Year Old rum and he, particularly, liked the quality and lauded the “sophisticated” branding.
He also commented that the process, from beginning to end, “gives the produce a distinctive feature.”
The Ambassador continued his sight-seeing in Guyana with a trip to Kaieteur Falls before returning, today, to Trinidad and Tobago, where he will be based.