MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
“Deliberate and calculated attempts at economic warfare” claim.
President of the Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce, Tim Miller, hit out today, Monday, at what he claimed were deliberate attempts by the Argentine Government to interfere with the development of the Falkland Islands economy.
Mr. Miller was addressing a visiting group of British parliamentarians at the start of a luncheon in their honour, jointly hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and the Falkland Islands Development Corporation.
Welcoming the guests to the Falklands on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Miller said that the growth of the private sector in the Islands had enabled the Falklands economy "to deal more easily than in the past with the vagaries of the squid fishery".
He went on to claim, "The enterprise of many of our members will, we hope, provide for the future prosperity of the Islands" citing tourism, oil, onshore mineral development, aqua culture and the further development of the offshore fishery as areas of economic activity, where development projects were under way.
"These many projects are progressing well" continued Mr. Miller, "despite the unwelcome interference with the development of our external links that our neighbours continue to make. Their deliberate and calculated attempts at economice warfare hit the development of tourism, commercial air travel, cruise ship re-supply and, more recently, container shipping links. Cruise ships are unable to do normal charter turnarounds and even proposed flights around Argentina's territorial limits have been threatened with direct physical action."
Mr. Miller concluded that "Entirely of their own making, the relations between us and our neighbour are now back at the same level as 1982. However, I can make it clear that the Chamber fully supports our Councillors and the British Government in their approach to this problem."
John Fowler (MP) Stanley
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