The Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday hosted a closing ceremony for the second phase of the “Spanish Language training for public servants” course it facilitated in conjunction with the Government of Colombia, with both countries expressing interest in sustaining the training.
The first segment of the course was conducted last year after Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett made a formal request for support in this area of capacity building, a press statement from the ministry said.
The programme was conducted by the Universidad Nacional de Colombia with participants drawn from the Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Local Government, Education, Agriculture, Health, Education, Labour, Human Services and Social Security ministries, the Immigration and Passport Office, the Bureau of Standards, the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Guyana Forestry Commission, Habitat for Humanity and the Office of the Prime Minister. Luis Armando Soto Boutin, Director of Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, who travelled to Guyana for the occasion; Ambassador Elisabeth Harper, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ambassador Audrey Jardine-Waddell, Director of the Department of the Americas of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also attended yesterday’s closing ceremony.
In brief remarks, Harper expressed the appreciation of the Guyana Government for the offer received from the Colombian Government and underscored the importance of the programme to the increasing emphasis on language training given government’s policy of strengthening relations with the countries in Latin America. She also said that the ministry was committed to continued collaboration with the Colombian Government to sustain the programme.
In his comments, Soto Boutin said his government hopes to expand its offer to include training at the university level, especially for teachers of Spanish.
