Belize and El Salvador Nearing Closure of PSA Negotiations  

Earlier this month, Prime Minister John Briceño led a high-level delegation to El Salvador for the inauguration of President Nayib Bukele. The delegation included the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francis Fonseca. Belize and El Salvador have been in negotiations over a partial scope agreement that seeks to enhance trade between the two nations. When we caught up with Minister Fonseca on Wednesday, we asked him for an update on those negotiations and ways in which he believes El Salvador can help to bolster Belize’s economic influence in the region.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“The prime minister had an excellent meeting with president Bukele. I was there with him. I think there is a lot that can happen between Belize and Salvador. There is an opportunity for increased trade, increased tourism, agriculture is one area we are looking at as well. So, I think it was an excellent discussion and an excellent productive meeting. In terms of partial scope agreement, we have made significant progress on that. We finished the second round of negotiations. So the third round is scheduled for sometime in August or so. We have gone a long way in terms of what we want to achieve there. Coming out of the third round we will be able to have some conclusion to the partial scope agreement. So, I think sometime this year we will be able to conclude that.”