Including UNASUR…
GUYANA is to assume the chair of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) on November 26 and preparations are well underway for the hosting of a summit on that date.

Preceding that is a two-day Council of Delegates forum on November 23 and 24 and a meeting of Foreign Ministers on November 25, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett announced Monday.

She told a media briefing that an official visit, by Ecuador’s Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patino last week, has helped put the arrangements on a successful track.

According to her, Guyana had, previously on August 1 last, assumed the chair of the African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) Group which comprises 79 developing countries from Africa, the Caribbean, including Cuba and the Dominican Republic and member States in the Pacific.

Rodrigues-Birkett reminded that the ACP grouping was established by way of the 1975 Georgetown Agreement and the chair is rotated every six months.

She said, since assuming the ACP Chair, Guyana has been instrumental in the conclusion of negotiations with the European Union (EU) to secure a second tranche of 500 million Euros for the 18 former sugar protocol countries and the disbursement will be done  from 2011 to 2013.

Rodrigues-Birkett said, in this new role, Guyana also chaired the ACP Consultative Group on Sugar and has initiated a study to look at the impact caused by the loss of preferential treatment for ACP exports to Europe, on account of trade agreements that the EU has been making with countries in Latin and Central America.

She said such action was  necessary because, in addition to the benefits of the European Union Partnership Agreement (EUPA), other markets have also been opening and should be examined to see how they have been impacting on ACP markets.
Guyana, under Article 12 of the Cotonou Agreement and Article 42 of the CARIFORUM Agreement, has been offering consultation and will also focus on the development of  South/South relations involving the ACP, Brazil and China.

Minister Rodrigues-Birkett, noting that Guyana will, during its chairmanship, deal with issues relating to economic partnership agreements, pointed out that, to date, only the CARIFORUM member States have signed any with the EU.

She said, while several other countries have inked interim agreements, some have not been signatories to any, resulting in the many difficulties being encountered by the ACP group.

The Minister said, among the common concerns raised during discussions, is a request, by the other groupings, for a five-year review as included in the EPA of CARIFORUM.

She said Guyana had fought, robustly, for such a provision and succeeded in having an annexe to the EUPA.

Rodrigues-Birkett said the bureaucratic difficulties faced in accessing EDF funds are concerns which will be aired with the European counterparts and it is hoped that, with closer relations, objective external assessments and the need to appreciate the policies and realities, those hurdles would be overcome.