Building on British Week success: back in Quetzaltenango

Two months ago we were in the middle of British Week 2012, and 10 events in 9 days aimed at raising further the UK’s commercial profile in Guatemala. Two months on and we are returning the scene of one of the Week’s major successes, Guatemala’s second city, Quetzaltenango, or Xela as it’s also known. To tell you more about it is Eduardo Smith, the Embassy’s Political and Press officer.

Thank you for this opportunity of being a guest blogger and to tell you more about our visit this weekend to Xela. The Embassy is going there to participate in the First International Festival of Quetzaltenango. This is a follow up to our successful visit there for British Week with a group of UK universities for an Education Roadshow to promote UK higher education opportunities. And this time, we also want to talk more broadly about the other work of the Embassy in Guatemala and of course the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Mayor of Quetzaltenango is organising the Festival, between 11, 12 and 13 of May, to celebrate 488 years since its foundation and to help promote the city as an important Business/Educational Centre for Western Guatemala and as a corridor to Southern Mexico. Organizers are expecting more than 15,000 people each day to visit around 50 stands from different organisations/companies, including us! The public is able to attend on Saturday – when we’ll be there – between 8am and 6pm at the Historic Centre, Gobernacion Building, Quetzaltenango.

Five members of the Embassy team will participate in the Festival, and you can find us at Stand 9. Our principle aim will be to promote UK/Guatemala trade relations: our British Week, and visit to Xela, showed that there is plenty of potential to do more. We want to put the UK on the map of Guatemalan business, and to encourage it to explore innovative ways to increase trade with the UK. There is a scope for British products to come to Guatemala and for investments that could boost development in both ways. To help, the Association Agreement between the European Union and Central America, due to be signed on 29 June, will give impetus to this effort.

But going to the Festival is not all about business; there are plenty of other issues we want to profile. For example, the upcoming London Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the opportunity for Guatemalans (who do not need visa as tourists to visit the UK) to go and cheer their athletes. For the first time Guatemala has 14 athletes qualified, including one from Xela, the cyclist Manuel Rodas.

Other issues that we’ll be able to talk about include: our commitment to Human Rights, climate change, good governance and working with the next generation of Guatemalan leaders.

This is also an invitation for British Citizens living or visiting in Quetzaltenango and the surrounding areas to come and visit our stand, perhaps to register with us if you haven’t already, or raise any consular inquiries with us. We will be happy to answer your questions and provide any guidance you might need as a traveller or resident in Guatemala.

So, come see us on Saturday in Xela and get to know more about our work in Guatemala!