PRIME MINISTER Freundel Stuart has accepted the invitation of the Government of New Zealand to make a two-day visit to that country on his way back from the Third International UN Conference on Small Island Developing States in Samoa.
The main focus of the September 5 to 6 visit will be the development of synergies in the renewable energy sector. As a guest of the New Zealand Government, Stuart will tour a number of facilities which utilise renewable energy, to familiarise himself with the New Zealand experience. The use of renewable energy is a major plank in Government’s current economic programme.
Delegates from the Caribbean have also been invited by the Government of New Zealand to visit that country, as they must pass through that Commonwealth nation to and from Samoa. Knowledge gained from the visit will prove beneficial in the areas of renewable energy, sustainable and value-added agriculture, indigenous economic development and tourism.
About 37 per cent of New Zealand’s main energy is from renewable sources and it is estimated that 72 per cent of its electricity comes from renewable energy.
Barbados established diplomatic relations with New Zealand on July 4, 1974. (BGIS)
