By Shermain Bique-Charles
Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez will lead a delegation to India this week, to hold talks with top officials there.
Discussions will be centered around increasing the number of visitor arrivals from Delhi to Antigua and Barbuda, and other investment opportunities.
“The business forum will be held over a few days and one of the meetings we are having is with the Minister of Tourism of India. We are also looking at a number of investment opportunities. It is a business forum and we hope that we will be able to benefit from it,” Fernandez said.
He told Observer that the Indian government is footing the bill for the trip.
“It is not really incurring so much cost to the government and people of Antigua and Barbuda but we hope that we could benefit from it,” he added.
Last year, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his country was committed to further strengthening and deepening ties with Antigua and Barbuda.
He said India was interested in collaborating in many sectors including infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, education, hospitality, manufacturing, personal care services, renewable energy, and SMEs.
India pledged to working with the twin island state to help bolster its growth, and to work with companies that offer technology support and knowledge-sharing.
India is also offering various types of training to Antigua and Barbuda citizens in an effort to enhance local skill sets.