Guyana and Canada on Monday convened their first “Bilateral Consultation” to discuss matters of mutual interest and relevant courses of action.
According to a joint press from the Canadian and Guyanese governments, senior officials from Global Affairs Canada, and Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, met virtually to discuss shared priorities and concrete action.
The team from Canada was led by Sylvia Cesaratto, Director General for Central America and the Caribbean and the Guyana delegation was led by Ambassador Elisabeth Harper, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; and Foreign Secretary, Robert Persaud.
Also present at the meeting was High Commissioner of Canada to Guyana, Mark Berman; and Chargé d’Affaires of the Guyana High Commission in Ottawa, Marsha Cadett; Chief Investment Officer for G-Invest, Peter Ramsaroop; along with several other officials of the Government of Guyana and the Government of Canada.
The release said that these consultations were held following several high-level meetings which included the first Canada-CARICOM Foreign Ministers’ Group Meeting in February, a teleconference between Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau and Guyanese Foreign Minister Hugh Todd, and discussions between the Canadian High Commissioner Mark Berman, the President, and members of his Cabinet. The consultations, it stated, provided an opportunity “to build on issues discussed at these high levels… culminating in a ‘Roadmap’ that would identify concrete steps to move forward.”
The key topics on the agenda included COVID-19 and an inclusive green economic recovery, trade and commercial engagements, and regional and global issues including CARICOM and Venezuela, as well as the issue of climate change. Both delegations included ‘subject level’ experts that provided detailed information on the issues identified.
Following discussions, both parties agreed to future meetings for updates and decisions on how to advance the work in the areas of collaboration that were discussed, “with a view to achieving mutual benefit.”
In recent weeks Canada’s High Commissioner to Guyana had also held meetings with other senior government officials including the Minister of Finance, the Attorney General, and the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, as Canada and Guyana “continue dialogue in key areas to broaden their relationship,” the release added.
