Above: Panama City, San Jose and Bridgetown

Following the lead of a number of Caribbean countries, Barbados is looking south to improve its economy.

Two Central American countries, Panama and Costa Rica, will be the sites of a diplomatic and commercial mission beginning tomorrow.

The two countries “are not new markets for Barbados,” said Bentley Gibbs, Permanent Secretary in the Division of Foreign Trade, but this represents an opportunity to forge stronger linkages.

“Barbados is now seeking to increase cooperation with those Central American countries and make those arrangements work to our mutual benefit,” he said.

Despite a free trade agreement between CARICOM and Costa Rica, the countries still have limited trade, he said.

But Panama, too, represents a potentially valuable market, Gibbs said, in industries like tourism, entertainment and financial services.

Tourism Minister Richard Sealy will head the mission, and will be joined by several officials, including Gibbs and Industry Minister Denis Kellman, along with several Barbadian business leaders.

–Barbados Information Service