Canada Strengthens Ties with Honduras

January 24, 2014 - The Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State (Foreign Affairs and Consular), will travel to Honduras from January 25 to 27, 2014, to participate in the inauguration of Honduran president-elect Juan Orlando Hernández, and to highlight Canada’s long tradition of cooperation with Honduras in the areas of development, trade, democratic governance, human rights and security.

“Canada and Honduras have a growing commercial relationship, and Honduras benefits from long-standing and substantial Canadian development cooperation programming,” said Minister of State Yelich. “The signing of the Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement in November 2013 is an indicator of the growing strength of our bilateral relations.”

In this context, Minister of State Yelich will also meet with business leaders to discuss trade opportunities and challenges.

While in Honduras, Minister of State Yelich will visit a Canadian-funded project at the Public Ministry, which has been equipped with an Integrated Ballistics Information System (IBIS). The IBIS, a Canadian forensic technology that facilitates the identification of weapons used in crimes, was delivered to Honduras as part of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s 2012 commitment to address regional security challenges in Central America.

Canada’s high level of cooperation with Honduras on development assistance, human rights, governance and democracy, and on the fight against transnational organized crime, coupled with increasing trade ties, supports Canada’s Strategy for Engagement in the Americas and the vision of a more prosperous, secure and democratic hemisphere.

Canada remains committed to the Americas and is working with partners to increase economic opportunity, strengthen security and institutions, and foster lasting relationships. The Government of Canada has invested more than $4 billion in total international assistance in the Americas since 2007, when Canada declared the region to be a foreign policy priority.

For Canada’s engagement in the Americas visit The Americas: Our Neighbours, Our Priority.

This is the second visit to Honduras by a Canadian federal minister since Prime Minister Harper’s official visit in August 2011.

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