The IX Ministerial Council of PetroCaribe and VIII Summit of PetroCaribe Heads of State, held on May 4th to 5th, 2013, was attended by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds; Guyana’s Ambassador to Venezuela, Geoffrey Da Silva; Mahender Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Energy Agency; and Roopchand Bissessar, Protocol Officer.

PetroCaribe, dubbed as a “strategic shield”, was the brainchild of the late President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez.

PetroCaribe is an instrument designed to facilitate the development of energy policies and the integration of the Caribbean nations through the sovereign use of natural energy sources to directly benefit the people.
This, the first PetroCaribe Summit convened under the recently elected President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, reaffirmed Venezuela’s commitment to the PetroCaribe Initiative:

– expressed satisfaction at the progress made so far by this integration mechanism.

– recognised the need to reinvigorate and strengthen the PetroCaribe and ALBA energy cooperation schemes.

– acknowledged the results attained through Fair Trade and encouraged the Working Group to continue with the effective implementation of the Oil Bill Compensation Handbook.

– took note of the proposal brought forward by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to strengthen PetroCaribe through the establishment of a PetroCaribe Economic Zone (PEZ), intended to deepen the progress made by the Organisation, with a view to developing the production sectors of member states, based on the linkage of production chains which would generate economic surplus and would make cooperation sustainable in the context of PetroCaribe.

– agreed to convene the Council of Ministers of Economy and other government cooperation areas related to the development of the PetroCaribe Economic Zone.

– took note of the proposal to start technical studies and discussions for the creation of the system of PetroCaribe Bilateral Integration Funds (FOBIP), as a financial mechanism for production linkages and trade revitalisation under the PetroCaribe Regional Development Mechanism. The Bank of ALBA would be the financial institution which would support the design of projects and the management of the funds of PetroCaribe.

The Heads of State and Government signed the following agreements:

1.     Memorandum of Understanding for Joint Assessment of Establishment of the Petrocaribe Economic Zone which would allow  the commencement of technical studies and discussions related to the effective accomplishment of this initiative; and

2.  Petrocaribe Cooperation Agreement on Fertiliser  Supply.

The Government of Guyana remains appreciative of the PetroCaribe initiative which has made a significant impact on the country’s development.