Trinidad and Tobago, Latvia engage in bilateral talks

TT hosted a Latvian delegation in which discussions of cooperation at the bilateral level and increasing the engagement between the two countries in multilateral opportunities were held.

The meeting was held in Port of Spain on Thursday, and the TT delegation was led by Reita Toussaint, permanent secretary of the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry, while the Latvian delegation was led by Andzejs Vilumsons, undersecretary of state and political director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia.

A release from the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry said both sides agreed that bilateral ties could be strengthened by building upon the existing historical ties through people and cultural exchange.

It said the discussions focused on areas with potential for cooperation and/or technical assistance, including digital transformation, agriculture in areas of food security and forest conservation, tourism and collaboration to facilitate air linkages; regional developments in the Caribbean and in Europe; multilateral relations and the voice of small states in the multilateral arena.

As for multilateral developments, Toussaint expressed appreciation for the support of Latvia for the election of Dennis Francis as the president of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, while the undersecretary of state took the opportunity to congratulate TT on Ambassador Francis’ election.

The release added that the parties are anticipating long-lasting effects on the multilateral system because of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The consultations ended with both sides taking the responsibility to follow up on the discussions on the bilateral front, including the provision of an expanded list of areas of interest for collaboration on the part of TT and commitment to cooperate at the UN and other multilateral fora.

The Latvian delegation also paid a courtesy call on THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine at Shaw Park Cultural Complex, Tobago on Friday.