MINISTER of Foreign Affairs Ms. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett on Wednesday, presented Instruments of Commission in acceptance of Honorary Consuls of Australia and Finland to Guyana. Mr. Dominic O’Sullivan was presented with his Exequatur commissioning him as the Honorary Consul of Australia while Mr. Peter Abdool was commissioned as the Honorary Consul from Finland to Guyana. 
Minister Rodrigues-Birkett, in presenting the commissioning instruments, said that it is another move to strengthen Guyana’s relations with both Australia and Finland.
In recent years, there has been increased interest by Australia and Finland in this part of the world and not only in Guyana but also in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Minister Rodrigues-Birkett noted Australia’s input during the rebuilding of Haiti when it offered support to Haiti through CARICOM.
She stated that Guyana also had several engagements with Australia in the area of climate change as the two countries share similar views in this regard.
Australia is also now offering scholarships, not only to Guyanese but to CARICOM nationals and Guyana hopes that the two countries would also be able to further trade relations, the Guyanese foreign minister stated.
Sullivan said it is a great honour to be accepted by Guyana and he would use the opportunity to improve relations between the two countries and to share strengths.
The Australian Honorary Consul said his country is one of the pre-eminent mining countries in the world and, given that Guyana is also a mining country, there is the opportunity for technical cooperation and training from which Guyana can benefit.
In addition, Australia offers advanced university courses in mining and geology that are in sync with the scholarship exchange programme available to CARICOM nationals.
Minister Rodrigues-Birkett said that Honorary Consul of the Republic of Finland to Guyana Mr. Peter Abdool, who is also Guyanese by birth, will also look for opportunities that can benefit both countries and those that Guyana can learn from as well.
She alluded to Finland’s advanced social services which include among its human rights, that of access to bandwidth.
The Foreign Minister stated that although Finland is a small country in the European Union (EU) she believes that it would be able to understand better the concerns of Guyana, not only in terms of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), but also in other areas.
The Finland Honorary Consul expressed appreciation for the relationship shared between Guyana and Finland.
“Finland has a very robust economy and great social programmes. It is a good country to be aligned with and we look forward to working very closely with Guyana,” he said.
He hopes to encourage investment into Guyana and enhance trade relations that can benefit both countries.
Minister Rodrigues-Birkett also noted that Finland ranks very high in terms of education and Guyana can certainly benefit from certain aspects of their education programmes.
Finland has already indicated that they are willing to work with Guyana and future discussions with the Education Ministry would be able to further cooperation in that respect, she stated.
O’Sullivan, who lives in Guyana, is a Geologist with over 20 years experience working for various mining exploration companies in developing countries such as Burkina Faso, Ghana and Jamaica.
He graduated with honours from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology and has been involved in the mining industry in Guyana since 1998.
Abdool is currently the Managing Director of Abdool and Abdool Incorporated Insurance Brokers, Financial Consultants and Abdool Holdings. He is also President of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control and a member of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce, Guyana Manufacturers Association and USAID/Guyana HIV/AIDS Reduction Prevention Project (G/Harp).
He is also a former president of the Rotary Club of Georgetown. (GINA)