SURINAME INVITES ISLAMIC INVESTORS

  Minister of foreign affairs Nirmala Badrising. 

Suriname's history created the diversity in our population of 500.000 people, which has its roots in India, Indonesia, China,  Africa, Europe and now lives peacefully in the South American nation where  Trio, Wayana, Akoerio, Carib and Arawac  are free indigenous inhabitants of Suriname.

A multi cultural  population gave Suriname's society its multi religious character. Even though Dutch colonialism planted Christianity as dominant religion in the past and Suriname is home to the oldest Jewish community on the American continent, today  the Hindu religious community is the largest religious community in Suriname and the Muslim community is our fastest growing religious community. Many  a tourist  praise  us in Suriname for the peaceful coexistence of people from so many different cultural backgrounds and religions . In our capital Paramaribo, the Jewish synagogue and the Mosque stand peacefully side by side.

Suriname's minister of foreign affairsNirmala Badrising illustrated this diversity recently in Istanbul by attending the 13th Heads of Government summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation OIC.
In her address she urged Islamic investors to invest in Suriname. Caribbean journalist Ray Chickrie  reported that "she told the summit that Suriname "has a conducive environment for foreign direct investments in sectors such as ICT, energy, tourism, housing and infrastructure
. Suriname provides ample opportunities for trade and investment ventures in natural resources, such as gold, bauxite, oil and other minerals, and an abundance of arable farmland is available for the development of the agro-industry."

 slave planting cotton in 1807

Taking into account that Suriname recently was screened by the IMF for a substantial loan to cope with serious economic difficulties due to a  drop in commodity prices of gold, aluminum and oil  on the international markets, Badrising's call on investors to invest in Suriname comes as no surprise.
Suriname has a team of Foreign Affairs professionals roaming the world to find the resources and to attract investors to keep Suriname's economy afloat and reverse the downward spiral which has caused considerable social unrest and uncontrolled price rises of basic food supplies in Suriname.
It is however, a matter of clever and conscious management of foreign investments to make sure that the country is not handed over on a silver platter and the 1% does not squeeze all the life-juices out of the 99%. 
Foreign investors want to make profits, we must ask ourselves which  profits are in these investments for Suriname. Investor demands should never lead to  another round of 'selling out' of valuable Surinamese assets such as our water, our soil and our precious metals and timber. The newly appointed minister Badrising is a senior foreign affairs specialist who knows where the money is stashed and who is trying to get a piece of that pie for Suriname.

 Kruyaras on the Suriname river

What will the impact be on Suriname's society if a large influx of foreign investors  coming from Islamic states voice  their demands. We know that also Suriname appeared in the Wiki Leaks diplomatic messages in the past and it was Dr. Jamalludin who wrote to his Islamic brothers in Saudi Arabia  to ask for help to support his efforts to educate Surinamese people in the Muslim faith.
The truth is that  oil money and Islamic investment funding  go a long way and go hand in hand and in some cases such as Yemen, Syria , Palestine and Iraq these investments did not bring prosperity but bombs and guns .  The future will teach us what price Suriname pays for foreign investments and which impact the IMF loan and the Islamic Investments  will have on our social and economic fabric. For now all eyes are on Mecca, Washington and Istanbul  at foreign Affairs in Suriname

Martha Tjoe Nij  May 2016