Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia has strengthened its partnership with Caribbean nations, as the Kingdom extended its support to the development of Haiti and Jamaica.

On Nov. 17, the CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development, Sultan Al-Marshad, signed memorandums of understanding with Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

The MoUs aim to establish a framework for promoting development cooperation and to provide support in various sectors in Jamaica and Haiti through SFD, according to SPA.

Through the agreements, the fund seeks to support the socioeconomic and sustainable expansion of projects in key developmental sectors in both nations.

These deals came on the sidelines of the Saudi-CARICOM roundtable meetings to deepen bilateral relations between the Kingdom and the CARICOM nations.

Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics Services Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser further demonstrated this commitment by signing an agreement with Barbados.

The pact focuses on bilateral air transport services between the two nations and establishing a regulatory framework for air transport movement in accordance with the principles outlined in the Chicago Convention.

The treaty regulates international civil aviation traffic in compliance with fair and equal opportunity principles.

Hence, the signed MoU controls the granting of transport rights and applies the designation and licensing standards for internationally applicable airlines.

It further aims to strengthen the rules and standards of air safety, civil aviation security and fair competition protocols. It also seeks to benefit the common economic interests of national carriers by serving the air transport market between the two countries by applying modern entry patterns.

This comes as the chairman of CARICOM, Roosevelt Skerrit, addressed the Saudi-CARICOM round table meeting, noting that a direct 12-hour flight between Saudi Arabia and the Caribbean was successfully tested on Nov. 15 to serve as a potential “gateway” to South America.

Meanwhile, Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih highlighted that the country would discuss implementing a direct flight from the Kingdom to Caribbean nations through its newly established airline, Riyadh Air.

Following the roundtable forum, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman met with President of Guyana Irfaan Ali.

The meeting entailed discussing furthering bilateral relations and aspects of cooperation between the two countries in the energy field.