Above: Bridgetown (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A delegation of Colombian officials is visiting Barbados this week to examine ways to expand the technical skills of designers and artisans in Barbados.

The officials from the South-South Cooperation Department of Colombia’s Ministry of External Relations are conducting a “diagnostic mission,” Barbados’ government said, which will include talks with Barbados’ Investment and Development Corporation.

Last year, Barbadian diplomats proposed a technical cooperation project between the two countries to strengthen the local creative industries.

Barbados said the “outstanding level of Colombian craftsmanship and the success which they have achieved in the artisanal sector” were the reasons the country was targeting Colombia’s expertise.

Barbados’ embassy in Venezuela is looking at other “market orientation” activities, the government said. (Barbados does not have an embassy in Bogota).