Antigua and Barbuda is preparing to sign two Memorandum of Understandings with Panama for its Maritime development. Darwin Telemaque, the General Manager of the Antigua and Party Port Authority left the island yesterday to sign the historic MOUs.

He told an interview with State TV at the V.C Bird International Airport that once signed, the agreement will further position the twin island state as the preeminent trans-shipment hub in the subregion

“As you know, Panama is the leading Port authority maritime authority within this region, I would say within the Western Hemisphere. And to be attaching that type of support to what we are doing here in Antigua, I think is quite an achievement and something that we’re very, very excited to do…”

“When we sign that document, to take specific numbers of all staff and find out their core interests or competence, and we can attach them in Panama for three months, four months, five months at a time, building their capacity and their repertoire and bringing them back here to deliver for us at a level that would take the port to a whole new space. And we are very, very excited about that and we’re hoping that the staff latches on to it,” Telemaque said

Meanwhile, Telemaque said the ultimate intent is to ensure that the port is versatile and competitive.

“We must ensure that the efficiencies and the productivity that the port needs to deliver to create the type of versatility and competitiveness that we need to see emanating from the port as we move further into the region, is that regional hub that we intend to be and on track to be. This is a big step towards that,” he said.

Telemaque said the achievements could not be possible without the support of Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the Organization of American States, Sir Ronald Sanders, and the Prime Minister, Gaston Browne.