Saturday, September 6 2008

EL SALVADOR is considering supplying this country with workers for the construction and tourism sector in light of a shortage of skilled labour, Foreign Affairs Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon said yesterday.

Gopee-Scoon recently travelled to El Salvador between August 17 and 19 as a “precursor meeting” in preparation for a visit by the El Salvador President Elías Antonio Saca González to TT, later this year.

The Foreign Affairs Minister flew to the Central American country by commercial airline on an invitation of the El Salvador Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Also discussed was a bilateral air services agreement, Gopee-Scoon said at a press conference at her ministry’s Knowsley Building, 1 Queen’s Park West.

She said both countries are also looking at the possibility of Air TACA – one of the largest airlines in Latin America, based in El Salvador – flying to this country, in addition to having the El Salvadorian labourers come to TT to work.

The possible arrangements are to be considered by the Ministry of Works and Transport as well as the Ministry of Labour, Gopee-Scoon said. “We do in fact need skilled workers put forward by El Salvador,” she said. Also discussed at the meeting was trade and investment, security and social development issues such as poverty.

In a statement on the visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also noted that trade between Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador amounted to around $120 million annually.