Security in Guyana and the rest of the region was among the issues discussed when President Irfaan Ali met yesterday with US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken and other officials in Washington.
A statement from the Office of the President said that Ali and his team met high-ranking US Government officials, including US Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves and Blinken, to discuss a range of issues on the opening day of the visit.
Discussions centred on matters including climate change, security in Guyana and the rest of the region, food security, energy security and the debt crisis, the statement said.
Ali described this week’s engagements in the US as “extraordinary” and said that the aim is to discuss areas of mutual interest, areas of strength and to expand the bilateral ties between the two countries.
The Head of State said that meetings on the opening day of the visit were “very fruitful”.
During a discourse on how he envisions the future of the US-Guyana relationship, hosted by the Atlantic Council at the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, Washington DC, the statement said that Ali spoke about the synergy that already exists between the countries and ways to enhance it.
“The goal of this week is to bring harmonisation between the plans and the programmes of Guyana and the aspirations of the US, both at the governmental level and the private sector. We cannot have a partnership unless the two countries have a fulsome understanding of the development priorities, the challenges and the opportunities and how those challenges can be mitigated and how those opportunities can be advanced”, he stated
The President underlined that while Guyana is an emerging hydrocarbon market, a very crucial part of the country’s development trajectory is to ensure that the economy will not be hydrocarbon-based. As such, he pointed to the heavy focus on agriculture and food security while pinpointing CARICOM’s target of reducing the region’s food import bill by 25% by 2025.
He said that Guyana has all the natural requirements to be a leading food producer in the region but lacks the appropriate technology and investment in infrastructure to ensure that the country’s agriculture is sustainable and resilient to climate change.
“That requires capital, and this is one example of how the revenues from oil and gas can be deployed to position Guyana, not only for the benefit of Guyana but to position Guyana to contribute significantly to the food security of the region as a whole”, he said.
Ali pointed to several pillars of Guyana’s diversified economy which go beyond agriculture.
“We want to build a knowledge economy that is supported with investment in ICT, making Guyana a natural hub for ICT services. We are also building in our development incentives so that multinationals can move their regional headquarters to Guyana to support their investments, to support their position in the market, in the region, Latin America and Caribbean”, he added
Essential components of this development and transformation, he said, are good governance, democracy and transparency. He asserted that the Government is working aggressively on ensuring that the country’s democratic credentials are embedded in the “moral aspect of the development of the country”, the statement said.
“That is why the relationship with the US is so critical, because we share common values on democracy, on freedom”, Ali said.
The President adverted to other critical aspects of the country’s development trajectory, including the benefits of its housing programme, expansion of the tourism sector, the national energy master plan and plans for Guyana’s infrastructure transformation.
The President reiterated that the United States is a “valued partner” and that the two countries share a “special relationship” and common views on critical issues.
“The US has always been very supportive of the growth and development of our country, and more recently, the US has been very instrumental and supportive in ensuring that democracy prevailed in our country, and that came about because of the fundamental value system of the US. The way the United States values democracy and the political party I come from, we share those values”, he said.
He also spoke of the relationship between the private sectors of both countries.
“What we’re seeking to do is to expand that participation in all the other sectors, the emerging areas, ensuring that the US is at the table on climate change, on us finding the balance in terms of energy security, working together in dealing with transnational crime. We have had an aggressive increase in our collaboration and partnership in dealing with security issues”, posited.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd and Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud are also in Washington for the series of high-level engagements at the invitation of the US Government.
