Newly accredited non-resident Norwegian Ambassador to Guyana, Turid Rodrigues Eusebio, is eager to learn about Guyana and wants to see the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries advance into operation mode. She was speaking after a meeting with President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday at State House, where she had earlier presented her letters of credence.
“I took over the responsibility from January 1, 2011, and this is the first time I am in the country, so for the time being, I am trying to form an opinion about the country and about the possibilities, the obstacles, get to know the country better, so I am still in that process,” she explained. Eusebio will be based at the Norwegian Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil.
Asked about the forestry agreement between Guyana and Norway, she said, “I am listening to His Excellency the President here. I have also had conversations with the Norwegian Government about this. I understand that there are ongoing discussions and I really hope that whatever obstacles are left they would be solved soon, so that the programme would get into operation,” she said.
Answering a question on whether Norway would be mindful to establish diplomatic relations here in Guyana, she said she really could not give an answer. “I cannot talk more about the future because I just don’t know. We used to have an Ambassador in Oslo covering all the Caribbean countries, then the Norwegian Government decided that the Embassy in Brazil does have extensive competency especially on forestry and climate changes issues,” she said.
She said the Norwegian Government decided to move that Ambassador to Brazil to have a better understanding and a hand on the steering “wheel” when it came to relations between Norway and Guyana.
Eusebio said one of the priority areas for the relationship between the two countries is to get up and running the forestry initiative agreement between Norway and Guyana. “I think when this programme [gets going] it will have a major impact in Guyana and we are talking about big money. I was informed that the contribution could be up to ten percent of the budget,” she said.
“I think the relationship [between Guyana and Norway] is excellent. I don’t see any obstacle that cannot be solved. I can assure you that on the Norwegian side Minister [of the Environment Erik] Solheim is also very eager to get results on the table and get things moving,” she said.