Guyana’s foreign policy agenda continues to be very active and a number of programmes implemented have arisen from the relationships forged during engagements with over 60 world leaders, President Irfaan Ali last evening stated.
In a nearly 25-minute-long impromptu statement to the nation, Ali said that he wanted to frontally address questions from the opposition which were submitted to Parliament on his government’s foreign policy works.
“These things [foreign policy gains] don’t come by accident. These things come by strong work. When I leave this country to attend meetings and to represent Guyana, its round-the-clock work. And I go with the same conditions that any public servants go on. The same allowance, the president don’t get no special allowance,” Ali informed.
“So, I find it disgusting for someone not to recognise the gains that we are making. But the results are there. As I am speaking to you now, we have major investors, global investors, who are talking to us on hydropower, agro-chemical, fertilizer plant, cement plant. This is the type of work we’re doing, positioning Guyana,” he asserted.
The president said that his government’s focus on its international agenda has been a priority as it believes that diplomacy and strong bilateral relations across the globe are part of ensuring Guyana’s position on global issues is understood and that support for Guyana is overwhelming.
Ali listed a number of agreements entered into and programmes rolled out, saying that they came from engagements with more than 60 leaders from across the world, more than 50 CEOs of multinationals companies, and a number of international organisations.
“We had lost our place on the global agenda in terms of forests and climate change. We are now once again leading this globally,” he said citing Conference of Parties climate change inroads.
Pointing to the African region, he reflected on engagements this country has had with Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda, among other countries.
In Ghana, he said that Guyana has partnered with that nation to tap into local content help and management of the oil and gas sector and thus “integrate what we do.”
In India, he said that the government met with more than 500 private sector investors covering various fields, aside from discussions with that country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, which saw commitments for help in Guyana’s development. “More scholarships, technical assistance, approval of US$100 million for military at low interest, commitment to finance capital projects…..”
In the Middle East, he said that Guyana has established a very “important and critical footprint.”
On the commitments and agreements gained there, he posited that “these were not there but opened up directly as a result of new strong bilateral cooperation and engagement. It doesn’t happen by guess or accident. No it doesn’t! ”
And in the United Kingdom, Ali said that for the first time Guyana got financing from UKIF on major projects but with a difference – through Public-Private Partnership. “At a time when the world is not giving fixed interest rates, we are able to negotiate and get less than 4 per cent, sometimes 3.5 per cent and 3 per cent fixed rate in this global environment. No one else!” he contended.
On energy, he reasoned that “Creating a framework for a regional energy hub is not a simplistic task. It requires building and strengthening partnerships. Creating a regional food hub, is not a simplistic task. For five years we lost position. Guyana was also the leader in agriculture and food security in CARICOM… Once again we are the head in the CARICOM quasi cabinet… food security and agriculture agenda and making enormous gains…Every single country we’re engaged with on the food production and food security for the region,” he said.
To citizens, he said he wanted them to know that he was working overtime to ensure that their lives are better and that with relationships forged there are tangible benefits for everyone. “We are here pushing this country, building new partnerships, breaking barriers and opening up opportunities… So as we advance forward and continue to build the country in a strong and sustainable manner, our engagement globally will become stronger. Our engagement globally will be more frequently called upon and we will have greater responsibility to shoulder and burden…,” Ali said.
“It is not going to get less with the type of global leadership that we want to produce and the type of inroads we want to make on the global platform, it definitely will require much, much, more work…,” he said as he assured that he is committed to doing what is required.
