Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Trade - that's the role that the newly elected Dr Osmond Martinez will take up.
A little less than a month ago, Martinez dominated at the Toledo East polls. He garnered 70% of the votes and won in a landslide victory.
But since then, there hasn't been any House Meetings, and there won't be any until next month, so while he's been elected, he hasn't been sworn in. However, in an almost unprecedented move, he had his swearing in at the Governor General's residence today.
And while all 26 representatives couldn't be there, plenty of of Martinez's new Cabinet colleagues showed up, including Kareem Musa, Rodwell Ferguson, Jose Mai, Kevin Bernard, Francis Fonseca, and of course, Prime Minister Briceno.
And though Dr Martinez extended the invitation for the media to join him, GG protocols mandated that our news team had to wait outside. So after the swearing in, we asked him about the move from Economic Development to Foreign Trade. He said it was ultimately the PM's decision.
Dr Osmond Martinez, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Trade
"We had our meeting and at that meeting, it was shown that there is a lot of connectivity within the Ministry of Economic Development and in order for us to accomplish the pending items on Plan Belize, there is a lot of things that need to be done from the Ministry of Foreign Trade."
"I welcome the challenge, based on the experience I have gained at the Ministry of Economic Development, I think that I'm well equipped, it's not only about me, it's about a team and I do believe that presently the Ministry of Foreign Trade under the leadership of Francis Fonseca has been doing a fantastic job plus he has a team. So it's just about guiding the team and continuing to do the work that they have been doing."
"When we look for example, and this is at the national level, we continue to diversify, we continue to have the discussions of regional integration for example, Mexico and Central America in terms of trade and commerce and so there is a lot that needs to be done but for me at that present moment is too early to give the details because I will need to see, I will be having a meeting with Francis Fonseca and then based on that, he will be able to brief me and let me know what will be the next steps and the vision that we should follow and to brief me on where the Ministry of Trade is at this present moment."
But did he hope to be back in the PM's ministry? He said that Economic Development and Finance go hand in hand with Foreign Trade.
Dr Osmond Martinez, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Trade
"Once we are elected, we serve at the pleasure of the Prime Minister and he is the one that decides where each individual is more fit to serve and in this case he believed I am more fit to serve in the Ministry of Foreign Trade then I will do it. But based on your question, I think that the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Finance, they complement one another, and the Ministry of Economic Development. When you look at Economic Development, it's not only about grants, that is one of the things that we champion but it's also about planning, it's about coordination, it's about dictating the pace of economic growth and development, it's about data analysis. In this case now, we'll be executing now what we were doing, and all the planning and coordination that was being done at the Ministry of Economic Development, now the Ministry of Foreign Trade will be able to implement it because there is a trade deficit for example, a gap that needs to be closed, there are more opportunities in terms of negotiating with other countries, there is also the investments in terms of getting the Pacific corridor and Atlantic corridor connected through Belize. Also all these connections in terms of using Belize geographically. Belize is well positioned to become a good trading partner for the southern part of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. And so these are the things we need to look at that now it's about implementing. We have planned and coordinated at the Ministry of Economic Development and Finance."
