President Irfaan Ali on Friday evening told the visiting US Congressional House Committee on Ways and Means that the opportunities here are open to the United States and this country will continue to be its strategic and important partner.
Following a meeting with President Ali and members of the government, a reception was held at the US Ambassador, Sarah-Ann Lynch’s residence in honour of the visiting US Congressional House Committee on Friday evening.
Ali said that at the meeting held earlier on Friday, the values of the two nations were reinforced. He said, “Values of seeking what is best for the people of our countries, values that speak to democracy, values that seek to provide regional and global leadership. It was a meeting that was different in many ways.”
According to him, at the meeting regional and global challenges were also examined and ways in which the two nations can support each other were discussed. “It was not a meeting where one partner was trying to extract from another partner, this was a meeting in which we recognized the value of each other, the tremendous work each other is doing to confront the various challenges our world is facing.”
Giving an assurance that Guyana’s relationship with the United States is based on principles, a shared value system, and respect, Ali said, “you have nothing to fear… Guyana is and will continue to be an important strategic partner of the United States and the opportunities here are opened to all and opened to the United States and your private sector.”
The President then added that Guyana wants to see greater participation from the US private sector in the country, “there is no second guessing this agenda, this is a clear strategy of the government.”
He reiterated that the government’s mission is to catalyze the revenues from oil and gas to position Guyana to function in the world 2030 and beyond to ensure that the country is sustainable, resilient and competitive. “For us to be a viable state, we must be able to be competitive and that is what we are investing in, applying the technology that is applicable for a world in the future today.”
Ali noted that Guyanese and, by extension, the world will understand the importance of their policy-making and framework currently in play now when the rewards come in in 2030 and beyond.
Firmly
According to Ali, he asked the visiting congressional delegation to ensure that the two countries can advance the strategic partnership firmly on “energy, security for the United States and Guyana, on climate security and on food security.”
Ali stressed, that energy, food security, climate, and environmental services cannot be discussed in the world without Guyana, as according to him, this country is an important part of the energy mix in the world, and Guyana will be a major leader in the food production and food logistics chain in the western hemisphere.
Ali then divulged that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo will be working with a team to ensure that Guyana’s leadership on the environment and climate change goes global.
He said Guyana has been called upon by numerous partners to share the country’s model which is greatly respected and praised, and to work on ensuring that the next Conference of Parties on climate change later this year “positioned forests as a main agenda item and we want the US to be a part of this, we want the US to be a strategic partner with us on the environment also.”
Ali stated that they understand the importance of the relationship between the countries, stressing that the US is not a “fair weather friend” and stood up for Guyana when it mattered based on their principles for democracy.
“We are working together with you, we can assure you of a government that is open, we are working to advance transparency and accountability. As we discussed today we want to apply more technological measures, more scientific measures so that we remove any discretion from the humans and ensure a system works and works every day for the people. Everything we do in the country must be system-based and system-managed based on rules and regulations… So we cannot do that unless we have the technology and build a system that works every day based on that technology and that is what we are investing in… You are a trusted partner”, the President stated.
