President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has restated his government’s commitment to collaborating with international partners to advance transformative projects across all sectors.
Speaking at the Private Sector Commission’s Annual General Meeting on Tuesday at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Georgetown, President Ali revealed plans to visit the United Kingdom (UK), as part of efforts aimed at strengthening relationships with private sector bodies.
He disclosed that the government is in discussions with the European Union (EU) to find ways in which the private sector there can play a greater role in partnership with the local private sector.
India’s Foreign Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will also be visiting Guyana shortly to advance discussions on a number of areas for collaboration.
“We are working on building stronger partnerships, looking at expanding agro-processing, manufacturing and value-added…looking at research and development, looking at building out our scientific capability,” the Head of State noted.
President Ali was also invited by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for a State visit to Brazil to discuss a strong and robust plan for regional integration.
“As you are aware, there are some massive transformative projects that are on the table with Brazil. I am convinced that this state visit as I am invited to, will advance these, will bring forth a tremendous opportunity for the local private sector, for Guyanese and Guyana.”
President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader is also scheduled to visit Guyana soon. President Ali will accompany President Abinader back to the Dominican Republic to meet with the private sector and several major financial institutions.
The Dominican Republic, he noted, has expressed interest in working on projects and financing local initiatives.
The country is also keen to collaborate closely in the area of energy security.
In addition, Guyana will collaborate with Cuba, later this year to enhance its human resource capacity and advance its healthcare services. Cuba has provided strategic ideas in this regard.
Qatar and the UAE have extended invitations to discuss Guyana’s development and explore opportunities for private sector involvement.
The President further revealed that, “Later this year, we intend to visit China, we will have great collaboration and discussions also on opportunities here. Also, we will be visiting Washington once more to further the collaboration and partnership of a number of transformative projects.”
President Ali expressed his hope that Canada will be an active participant in Guyana’s transformation and acknowledged the High Commissioner’s hard work in advocating for this agenda and promoting it as a top priority.
He emphasised the importance of managing Guyana’s multilateral and bilateral interests to ensure the country is well represented internationally.
Currently, Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips is leading a delegation in Trinidad and Tobago to deal with the issue of crime not only from a country perspective but from a regional perspective.
