PM announces bio-diesel plan

If things work out between Vincentian Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves and Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Vincentian motorists may be able to use regionally produced bio-diesel.

Prime Minister Dr. Gonsalves referred to the project last Tuesday. He was at a special sitting of the House of Assembly in honour of the Malaysian leader.{{more}}

Dr. Gonsalves hopes to work along with “at least one other Caribbean country to pursue the production of bio-diesel from the cultivation of the jethropa plant and oil palm.”

He pre-empted the publication of the joint statement with an announcement of cooperation in “education and training, investment and trade, tourism and international services, culture and sports, health and the environment.”

Dr. Gonsalves emphasised his attachment to his Malaysian counterpart and said that the relationship is expected to be enhanced with an official visit to Malaysia, according to him “probably before the middle of June.”

And there is also the meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit carded for Havana, Cuba September 2006 when the two prime ministers are expected to meet.

Dr. Gonsalves boasted of his relations with Malaysia as part of the country’s foreign policy, which he ascribed as “principled and pragmatic,” but one which also was “enhancing our nation’s capacity to address more efficaciously, in our people’s interest, the challenges arising from our external environment.”