President Bharrat Jagdeo accredited Portugal and Nigeria’s envoys to Guyana at a ceremony hosted at the Office of the President on Wednesday last.
According to the Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA) Jaoa Cateano da Silva, Portugal’s Ambassador to Guyana said his priority is to foster business relations with Guyana. He said too his country will soon appoint an Honorary Consul to Guyana.
The Ambassador said Portugal imports a significant quantity of rice from Guyana but its future plans include exporting its products here as well. He also said Portugal and Guyana have traditionally maintained friendly relations which will be furthered strengthened since there is a significant number of families in Guyana of Portuguese origin.
Meanwhile, Nigeria High Commissioner to Guyana Musa John Jen presented his credentials to the president in the presence of his wife Neushe Musa John and the Deputy High Commissioner of Nigeria, Chigozie Obi-Nnadozie. In an invited comment Jen said his government aims to improve the lives of Guyanese by taking advantage of opportunities to promote collaboration in the agriculture sector. He said this will boost food production for both domestic consumption and export. The High Commissioner said almost 75% of Nigeria’s sugar is imported and he would encourage businesses to take advantage of expertise in Guyana’s sugar sector. Jen said his country may be able to replicate this system of production since Nigeria has vast agricultural lands similar to Guyana.
He also said Nigeria is willing to support Guyana in its carbon credit platform since Guyana is one of the countries in the world that is not a high carbon emitter. Jen said the international community should recognize and appreciate this by giving incentives to Guyana and other countries. According to him when countries preserve their forests, they sacrifice the benefit of agricultural expansion however, if the forests are cut down, the effects would be more hazardous to the environment because forests catalyze the carbon that is released. Jen said the Amazon forest should be preserved in the wake of the effects of global warming.
The High Commissioner also said his government is awaiting a request from Guyana for expertise from his country in areas such as health, administration, engineering, accounting and agriculture.
