–in light of oil-related ‘watershed’ developments

A HIGH-LEVEL delegation from the United States Department of Defense met with Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo on Wednesday at the Ministry of the Presidency.
The team from the Defense Governance and Management Team (DGMT), which has been helping regional governments with tackling security challenges through sustainable policies and plans, was led by Mr Darryl Long and comprised Messrs Richard Gay, Paul Nagy and Gary Merrick.
The DGMT team was accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Mr Perry Holloway and the embassy’s naval attaché, Mr Michael White.
During their hour-long meeting with the Prime Minister, members of the team spoke of the importance of a “Future Force” for Guyana in the context of oil-and-gas production, and discussed case studies of select oil-producing states as regards maritime domain and protection.
The U.S. Embassy later issued a statement saying that the DGMT team has wrapped up an inaugural visit here after having fruitful talks with the government.
“Recognising that Guyana is quickly approaching a watershed moment in its history, the team programmed discussions regarding case studies of select oil-producing countries and current best practices,” the embassy said in its statement.
The team of four retired senior U.S. military officers, the embassy says, included strategists and logisticians, and listed as being among topics that were discussed “The Experience of Norway, Brunei, and Nigeria”; “Best Practices in Maritime Domain Awareness, to include Environmental Concerns”; and “The Link Between Strategy, Policy, and Budget”.
In addition to calling on Prime Minister Nagamootoo, the delegation also met with Finance Minister Winston Jordan; Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Patrick West and other senior government officials.
A seminar was also held with several members of the Defence Board and retired Chiefs-of-Staff.