Guyana and Colombia have agreed to pursue a number of projects in the areas of education, commerce, science and technology, health, agriculture and security during their 2008-2010 work programme, GINA reported.
According to GINA, the countries have agreed to improve the quality of curriculum delivery in Spanish at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level; enhance efficiency in the rice sector in Guyana; design a quality secondary education programme for remote hinterland and riverain communities; and develop Guyana-Colombia police cooperation.
They have also agreed on the improvement and development of scientific metrology infrastructure in Guyana; the integration of a vector management programme for disease prevention in Guyana; improvement in the Spanish language skills of Public Service officials; and a feasibility study to identify and establish suitable areas for Free Trade Zones in Guyana.
These projects were agreed on during the fourth session of the Guyana-Colombia Joint Commission held on June 26 and 27 in Bogota. This falls within the framework of the Technical Economic and Scientific Cooperation Agreement between the Governments of the two countries signed on May 3, 1982 in Bogota and approved by Act 59 of 1983. Chairing the Commission were Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Dr. Henry Jeffrey and Vice-Minister of Multilateral Issues of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Adriana Mejia Hernandez, Vice-Minister of Multilateral Issues of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Colombia.
Minister Jeffrey in his opening remarks at the forum thanked the Colombian delegation for their warm welcome to the Guyanese team and emphasised the high level of understanding attained by the two countries in their technical and scientific cooperation. He also alluded to the worldwide problem of increasing food and fuel prices.
The Foreign Trade Minister noted that fora such as the Joint Commission constitutes small but necessary steps in global efforts to cooperate, integrate, support and take advantage of the opportunities to improve people’s living standards.
Meanwhile, Colombia’s Vice-Minister Mejia in welcoming the Guyanese delegation emphasised the significance of the meeting in terms of the bilateral relations between the two countries. She also pointed to the importance of the two countries investing joint efforts in securing international understanding of the need for middle income countries to have access to official development assistance to implement projects.
