Suriname, meet the rest of the world 🌎

Happy Monday

Last week was a busy week for Suriname. In the first half the Netherlands visited Suriname, and now Suriname is visiting the USA

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi emphasized broadening and deepening friendships at a press conference on Monday. The Netherlands will help to make doing business in Suriname attractive as it now takes almost 1.5 years to open a company.

While much of Suriname was excited about Rutte’s visit, a few in the community were less than pleased. These include ex-president Desi Bouterse and current vice-president Ronnie Brunswijk - who both have criminal indictments for drug trafficking in the Netherlands.

Santokhi has asked Rutte for support in the renegotiation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since the Netherlands has a seat on the Executive Board. Rutte had announced in the National Assembly that he wanted to know more about slavery's past and wanted to hear from the descendants of the enslaved. “The government must respond to a report on the history of slavery,” Rutte said when asked if there were any apologies for the colonial past. Near the end of Rutte’s visit, both governments facilitated six MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between Dutch companies and Surinamese companies for future cooperation.

Update on the Surinamese electoral system

With the upcoming change of the Surinamese electoral system, following a report by the High Court of Justice of Suriname, the minister of Home Affairs, Bronto Somohardjo, planned to swear in the main polling stations last week Friday. This swearing-in was stopped last minute as it came in for heavy critique. To recap, the High Court of Justice of Suriname declared the distribution of seats (Article 9 of the Electoral Regulations) and the boundaries of the constituencies (Article 24) non-binding on August 5.

Ultimately, the cases are under further investigation. In consultation with the president and acting president, the swearing-in ceremony continued.

President Santokhi is also visiting the USA for the United Nations General Assembly for high level talks with US officials and organizations like the UN and IMF.

The IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva met with Suriname's President Chan Santokhi in New York. She said the fund will continue to support the recovery plan but would be flexible in light of high food and fuel prices. The government had already indicated that it would urge the IMF to make changes as its implementation weighs heavily on the population.

Minister Albert Ramdin of Foreign Affairs, International Business, and International Cooperation confirmed that the United States government is in talks with various countries regarding the acceptance of refugees from Afghanistan. The refugees are currently being taken care of in a refugee camp in Kosovo and have been there for more than a year. Surinamese ambassador to the US, Marten Schalkwijk, has confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that Suriname is considering cooperation

President Chan Santokhi recently held the first official meeting with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vice-President Kamala Harris. The conversation concerned foreign policy between Suriname and the United States of America. There was also a focus on the relationship between the US and CARICOM. Bilateral cooperation between the two countries was discussed as well as support for the United States of America in various areas.