Dr. Martinez officially sworn in as Minister of State for Foreign Trade

_{Photo: Dr. Osmond Martinez is sworn in}

Dr. Osmond Martinez, former Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Finance, has been formally sworn in as Minister of State for Foreign Trade.

By Charles Gladden

Belmopan, Wednesday, August 14, 2024

On July 17 this year, former Finance Ministry CEO Dr. Osmond Martinez was officially sworn in as Secretary of State for Foreign Trade after his landslide victory in the Toledo East by-election.

The byelection was prompted by the April death of former six-term East Toledo Councilman Mike Espat, 75, who suffered a serious heart attack.

Dr. Martinez received 3,269 votes, an estimated 70 percent of the voter turnout — defeating his opponents, Dennis “Dishaw” Williams of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and Wil Mahia of the People’s National Party (PNP).

“We had a meeting and it showed that there were a lot of connections within the Department of Economic Development and there were a lot of things that needed to be done by the Department of Foreign Trade to complete the outstanding items of the Belize Plan…

“I welcome this challenge because I have a lot of experience in the Ministry of Economic Development, but I think I am well prepared. It is not only about me, it is about a team; I believe that at the moment, the Ministry of External Trade is doing a very good job under the leadership of Francis Fonseca, and he has a team. So, it is now a matter of guiding the team and continuing the work they have been doing,” Dr. Martinez said.

One might have expected that Dr. Martinez would serve as Secretary of State for Finance under Prime Minister John Briceño as he previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Finance, but he has been given the new position and said it was Prime Minister Briceño’s decision.

“Once we are elected, we will be at the disposal of the Prime Minister, who will decide which ministry each person is better suited to; in this case, he thought I would be better suited to the Ministry of Foreign Trade, so I went there. I think the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Finance complement each other, as well as the Ministry of Economic Development. The Ministry of Economic Development is not only about allocating funds; that is one of the things we advocate, but it is also about planning, coordinating, determining the pace of economic growth and development; it is about data analysis. In this case, we will implement what we are doing; all the planning and coordination work done by the Ministry of Economic Development, now it will be implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Trade,” he said.

The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Government House in Belmopan on Tuesday, August 13, a rather unusual move as it was expected to take place during the next sitting of the House of Representatives.

When reporters asked His Excellency Dr. Martinez about the change, he referred the question to the Prime Minister, explaining that the next House of Representatives session will be held in September.

“We need to get things done and the only thing we know how to do is to work hard, so we need to put our feet on the ground and work,” Prime Minister Briceño said.

Dr. Martinez will serve in this position until the 2025 election.