PRESIDENT David Granger held talks with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.The meeting between the two leaders took place on the margins of the signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement.

The President shared with the Italian Prime Minister his Government’s plans to promote a green economy, and took the opportunity to raise the possibility of Italian support for the Iwokrama Centre for International Rainforest Conservation and Development, the Ministry of the Presidency said in a release.

The centre was established as a partnership between Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat, and its aim was to manage the Iwokrama rainforest, a unique reserve of 371,000 hectares, “in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general”.