President Irfaan Ali has reiterated Guyana’s support and solidarity for Cuba and spoke about strengthening cooperation in key areas, during a telephone conversation yesterday with the island’s President, Miguel Díaz-Canel whom he also invited to visit this country.
According to a release from the Office of the President, Ali also acknowledged the longstanding relationship between the two countries and their 50 years of diplomatic relations.
Guyana and Cuba established diplomatic relations on December 8, 1972.
Given this milestone, he voiced optimism about a renewed sense of cooperation.
“Guyana has benefited tremendously from the goodwill of Cuba and its people”, he said.
The release said that the President also extended an invitation to the Cuban leader to visit Guyana to further bilateral talks towards enhancing collaboration.
The release said that President Díaz-Canel welcomed the invitation and also expressed the need to strengthen the bonds between the two nations. To this end, the discussion centred on several areas including tourism and hospitality, health, housing, and food production.
Ali also spoke of the need to enhance Guyana’s social sector and pointed to his quest of providing quality health care.
In this regard, he noted that Guyana will be building a new maternal and child health hospital and six new regional hospitals. Cuba has provided scholarships for hundreds of Guyanese medical students over the years.
The leaders spoke about Guyana’s development path and President Ali outlined some of his Government’s plans to diversify the local economy, including through agriculture. He also highlighted Guyana’s role in CARICOM to reduce food importation by 25% by 2025.
“We are working on a massive diversification and food security plan”, he said.
