Prime Minister Dean Barrow is currently in London with his wife, Kim Simplis-Barrow, Special Envoy for Women and Children, and their daughter – Salima, on an official visit to raise funds for the Belize Children’s Trust, as well as to strengthen trade ties with the UK.

Barrow met officials of Tate & Lyle, as well as the chairman of the City of London Policy & Resources Committee, Mark Boleat, and then talked with global financiers and businessmen about trade and investment issues.

“We are very pleased to invite the Prime Minister of Belize to speak to these important guests at the Guildhall and discuss Belize and its future plans. The City of London, as the world center of finance, welcomes important dialogue with developing countries, and we hope the lunch will be fruitful for future investment and trade for the country. The City of London recognizes its role in supporting Belize and other developing countries, and we hope to continue useful discussion in the future,” said Boleat.

Barrow also visited the London operations of Tate & Lyle/American Sugar Refinery, and met with senior officials to discuss an investor strategy for the sugar industry and the future of the global sugar industry.

During that tour, the Prime Minister witnessed the delivery of 13,000 pounds of Belizean sugar. He noted that the visit occurs at a time when there is a transition taking place in the Belize sugar industry, with the investment of ASR, which acquired Tate & Lyle and bought out the Belize Sugar Industry (BSI) mill in our country.

“It’s breathtaking seeing all this Belize sugar. I had a chance to actually see a ship that just came from Belize and see the sugar being taken out of the hole and transferred to the refinery, to see the backend of this process which all starts with our good Belizean cane farmers in their cane fields in Orange Walk and Corozal,” the Prime Minister said Tuesday.

“I have quite a sense of occasion,” Barrow commented.

Mac McLachlan, Senior Advisor to Tate & Lyle, commenting on the Prime Minister’s visit, said: “We are extremely happy to welcome the Prime Minister and his team here today and delighted he has been able to visit us and discuss with us important proposals for the future.”

McLachlan said that they were pleased at the timing of Barrow’s visit, which could not have been better, since a boat from Belize had arrived that same morning to unload Belize sugar.

“It’s clear that giant leaps by the entire sugar industry in Belize over the last few years have provided Belize and the sugar industry a strong and secure platform for growth and the future of sugar in Belize. We are delighted to be part of that future with all the stakeholders in Belize,” the Tate & Lyle rep added.

PM Barrow also met with the UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, and the Armed Forces Minister to discuss a variety of important strategic issues concerning Belize.

He was also billed to meet later this week with the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Charles to discuss, among other things, the conservation of Belize’s protected areas, as well as the impact of illegal incursions on the Belize-Guatemala border.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Barrow met this week with Cherie Blair, wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, to exchange information on their various charitable foundations; and also visited a leading children’s hospital, Evelina Children’s Hospital, a part of Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, in the UK seeking future linkages for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

“Treating 100,000 children each year, Evelina Children’s Hospital is one of the few hospitals in the world built with a doctors and patients perspective in order to meet the needs of children and their families,” said a release from the Office of the Special Envoy.

“The visit concluded with an in-depth chat with key members of Evelina Children’s Hospital to discuss the potential of a sister hospital where a strong relationship is formed with physicians at Evelina Children’s Hospital and those involved in [the] developing of an intensive care unit for children in Belize,” the release added.

The climax of the London visit will be a special fundraising event for the Belize Children’s Trust Foundation, which over 300 Belizeans and friends are expected to attend.

PM Barrow and his family return to Belize on Wednesday, July 3.