The Honourable Andre Perez, Area Representative for Belize Rural South (BRS), including Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker, has been busy in his Ministry of the Blue Economy and Civil Aviation. The portfolio often requires him to travel out of the country, and his recent trip took him to Bogota, Colombia, for the International Civil Aviation Negotiating Event 2021.
Perez was accompanied by his Chief Executive Officer Kennedy Carrillo and the Director of the Belize Department of Civil Aviation, Nigel Carter. The event provides the opportunity for bilateral negotiating to establish air service agreements. Perez signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with different countries during the event.
On Monday, December 6th, Belize and Qatar signed an MOU for air services agreement. The signing intends to lay the foundation for possible future flights between the two countries. Next, Perez signed an MOU with Germany under the same deal.
On Tuesday, December 7th, the International Day of Civil Aviation, Perez participated in a high-level meeting with Juan Carlos Salazar, Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization, Melvin Cintron, Regional Director for North, Central America and the Caribbean, and Fabio Faizi Rahnemay Rabbani, Regional Director, South America. This meeting was deemed very successful.
According to reports from Perez’s team, it provided an opportunity to discuss opportunities to support Belize’s Civil Aviation new five-year strategic plan. In addition, the discussion served to seek opportunities for positioning Belize as a vital leader bridging Central America and the Caribbean.
Later in the day on Tuesday, Perez continued meeting with his bilateral encounters. He signed a third MOU with Spain and ended the day with a signed agreement with Costa Rica. These MOUs will attract more airlines and businesses to Belize. 
The delegation intends to sign more contracts with the remaining countries participating in the international event. These include Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Latvia, the United Kingdom, Kenya, Switzerland, Rwanda, and Oman. When foreign ministers visit the country, these agreements are to be formalized in Belize on Tuesday, December 14th.
