PRESIDENT David Granger on Wednesday held talks with the Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Iyad Ameen Madani, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he committed that his government will participate more in OIC activities. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the fourth summit of Arab and South American Countries (ASAC). During the meeting, the Secretary General outlined the OIC’s endeavours with regard to political, cultural and social affairs, as well as its interest in the issues of women and children along with the economic aspects especially of micro-financing. He noted that a number of upcoming OIC conferences are meant to address these issues and expressed his hope that the Republic of Guyana will be among the effective participants in the OIC’s activities, according to an OIC press release from Riyadh.

For his part, the President of Guyana welcomed the OIC Secretary General and expressed his belief that their meeting will open up new horizons for his country’s participation in the OIC’s conferences and meetings. President David Granger further affirmed that Guyana looks forward to participating in the upcoming Islamic Summit Conference due to be held in Turkey next year.

Granger could become the first Guyanese head of state to participate in an OIC summit. Among its main objectives, the OIC aims to promote respect the right to self-determination and non-interference in the domestic affairs of its member states and to respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of each of its member states and develop science and technology and encourage research and cooperation among its members.
He also added that Guyana is currently working to join the membership of the Islamic Development Bank. Last month, President Granger met with bank’s senior economist, Dr. Salman Syed Ali and its Division Manager of Advisory Services, Yahya Aleem ur Rehman, where he was updated on the bank’s activities in the Region and discussions were held on Guyana’s potential for financing. “These are two initiatives that we will continue to work on to strengthen economic relations,” President Granger said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and President Granger discussed a number of issues on the agenda of the ASAC summit, in addition to issues of common interest between the two countries.” The meeting was attended by Saudi Minister of State, Dr. Muasaed Al-Aiban; Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom, Adel Al-Jubeir; Acting Chief of the Royal Court, Khalid Al-Essa and Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge.

Guyana, a small state, is keen to enhance its multilateral diplomacy as a means to defend its territorial integrity, amidst renewed claims to its territory by two of its neighbours, Suriname and Venezuela after a major oil discovery in Guyana. With a small army, and lack of conventional weapons like Venezuela, the new government of Guyana is looking to more actively participate in multilateral forums such as the OIC.