Guyana will soon establish a diplomatic mission in Geneva, GINA said.
This was disclosed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge during a recent interview with GINA. He said the new mission will be responsible for trade.
“Whilst the heart of the discussion in preparation for (the DOHA round in) Nairobi took place in Geneva at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) we had no officer there…an officer had to be travelling from Georgetown and from Brussels to undertake that work,” Greenidge explained.
He said that the setting up of a diplomatic mission means that the Guyana officers who are coordinators for trade for the Caribbean region, can be on site and participate in necessary meetings. This capacity was constrained by the absence of those skills in Geneva.
Greenidge said that the move was the subject of lengthy deliberations because Switzerland is a very expensive place to live. He disclosed that the Swiss Government has offered and Guyana has accepted, to come to an arrangement where Switzerland would defray some of the cost of the office in Geneva or in Berne.
“The Officers appointed there will need to work also with the Swiss because it will be a bilateral office too…the officers will also work towards developing relations with the Swiss with whom we have not really done a great deal,” the Foreign Affairs Minister added.
Famous Guyanese author Edgar Mittelholzer has Swiss antecedents and the Swiss government upon learning this provided an additional connection to foster deeper ties between the two countries, GINA said.
“They were rather fascinated to learn that we have connections and we will be building on that in material ways, culturally as well as economically and socially and we can see the fruits of that relationship in the coming years,” Greenidge told GINA.
