Belize and El Salvador Move Closer to Finalizing Partial Scope Agreement

Belize and El Salvador are one step closer to finalizing a partial scope agreement.  The deal seeks to strengthen the countries’ bilateral cooperation by granting tariffs, providing legal certainty to investments, and holding capacity-building initiatives. In June, Prime Minister John Briceno and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Francis Fonseca with President Nayib Bukele and completed the second round of negotiations for the agreement. Yesterday, Fonseca provided an update on the venture and said that the third round of talks was held a few weeks ago.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education: “Yeah, we’ve made tremendous progress but there’s still some work to be done. There are a number of outstanding issues, but we’re very pleased with the progress that has been made. Our team from the Ministry of Foreign Trade has been working diligently. There’s still a long list of items that we’re discussing with El Salvador for Belize to gain some preferential access. So that’s ongoing.”

One of the key areas of focus is improving economic activity for local farmers and enhancing their technical abilities through the sharing of best practices