NCN

President in discussion on “new frontier” relations

There is still a brewing interest to reinvigorate the ties which the Guyana Government had initiated with countries on the new frontiers and a task ahead for the newly elected President Donald Ramotar to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor on this diplomatic agenda. Cognizant that that political volatility and turmoil which had hit the Arab World, had halted Guyana’s quest for new frontier relations, President Ramotar today met the Honorary Envoy to the Middle East Ambassador George Hallaq for talks in this regard.   Ambassador Hallaq in an invited comment to the Government Information Agency (GINA) said that bureaucracy between the two sides had been in the combination of factors that impacted on the pace of the relations. He noted nevertheless efforts at present to build relations with countries in Europe and North Africa along with the Middle East quest and spoke of the mechanism that supervises relations.

“Countries in the Middle East, are interested…we have to follow up and continue… and in the end we will succeed…” Ambassador Hallaq said.  Guyana’s former President Bharrat Jagdeo had set the precedent, venturing off on the new frontier quest in 2009 for relations with countries that were either immune or not heavily impacted by global financial crisis. This, he had noted, was premised on the need for an aggressive approach at the world level to raise money for Guyana and the fact that in the Middle East, there are major investment aims.

State visits were made to Syria, Libya, Cyprus, Jordan, The United Arab Emirates, Qatar Kuwait and, Iran where bilateral relations and avenues through which these relations could be strengthened were explored. In Cyprus the country’s President Demetris Christofias and former Guyanese President endorsed the appointment of ambassadors to both countries and the granting of scholarships to Guyanese students in the areas of Forestry and Tourism while in Jordan export markets were brainstormed.

In Iran two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed in the areas of political and visa services and Iran’s development assistance to Guyana. The former President’s diplomatic engagement led to visits by a Libyan Trade and Investment Agency team to Guyana on a fact finding mission, a visit by a delegation from the Geological Survey of Iran for mineral mapping, the appointment of a non-resident Cyprus and Kuwaiti Ambassadors to Guyana and a state visit by His Highness Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al Ahmed Al-Jaber Al Sabah, Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait to Guyana in July 2010.