Business View Caribbean, July/August 2018

44 45 why we want to bring them here to Curaçao to be part of our new port development. “The biggest project is the refinery. It’s also one of the biggest challenges. It’s over a hundred years old and operated, right now, by the Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA, and the contract runs out in 2019. So,we are working with an interna- tional expert to find a new partner that will oper- ate the company in 2020.And once we have that in place,we need to start talking about the future. Because if you have a new operator, you need to have the discussion about howyou transition to a more green future,where we can produce the new jobs,where we will be less dependent on a fossil PRIME MINISTER OF CURAÇAO fuel-based industry, and where we can, together with international partners, create the new indus- tries that will employ the newworkforce. So, that is a dialogue that we want to engage in.” BVM: It sounds as if you have a very full plate.Can you encapsulate your overall goal,going forward? Rhuggenaath: “To hold this coalition together, and to build the collaborative bridges inside and outside government so that we can produce some successes, create more confidence in gov- ernment, and provide the stability that is very necessary for investors to see the return on their investments.”