Above: Barbados Foreign Minister Maxine McClean (UN Photo/Amanda Volsand)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Barbados Foreign Minister Maxine McClean began an official visit to Guyana this weekend.

She was in the country for the second Guyana-Barbados joint commission meeting at the Guyana International Conference Centre, where the two sides discussed developments in agriculture, aviation, education, tourism and other areas.

McClea, leading a delegation from Barbados, visited the Bina Hill Instuitute, which she said could be twinned with a similar institution in her home country. She also visited the Sante Fe farm, which is managed by a family from Barbados.

A team of Barbadian and Guyanese officials also visited Bon Fim in Brazil, just across the Takutu River Bridge, along with a trip to the Lethem commercial district.

Guyana Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett also announced that Guyana would be offering five scholarships for Bajan students to study at the Guyana School of Agriculture.

Barbados, for its part, will be providing support for Guyana in the production of pork and the rearing of black belly sheep.

McClean also said that, given Barbados’ years of tourism experience, collaboration in that sector was also a possibility.