PRESIDENT David Granger on Thursday evening, joined with Ambassador of the French Republic, Mr. Antoine Joly and members of the French community in Guyana to celebrate France’s National Day or ‘La Fête Nationale’, which commemorates the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789.

The reception was held at Cara Lodge on Quamina Street, Georgetown. The President in his address reiterated Guyana’s appreciation for the pivotal role played by France in consummating the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. He noted that Guyana and France, through French Guiana, are part of the vast Guiana Shield in northern South America and share common concerns over the state of the earth’s environment.

“Guyana is in transition towards becoming a ‘green state,’ which will place increasing emphasis on the protection of our environment, the preservation of our biodiversity and the promotion of practical measures to ensure climate adaptation. Guyana, in this regard, looks forward to extending its cooperation and collaboration with France in order to preserve the environmental security of the Guiana Shield,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Joly reminded the gathering of the French President, Mr. Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to heads of state, civil societies and other developmental partners to the Paris Peace Forum in November later this year, to deliberate on the necessity of better local and global governance. He noted too, that France is pleased to know that it can rely on Guyana’s support on issues at the multilateral level. “I am happy also with our very good bilateral relationship that allows us to have a partnership of trust…our relationship will open up even more…with the decision of the French Oil Company, Total, to explore your oil resources,” he said.

Guyana and France established formal diplomatic relations on June 22, 1967. Since then, the country has benefited considerably from France’s support in the areas of defence, debt relief, disaster relief, education and public safety. The French Revolution influenced the revolution in Saint Domingue two years later on August 22, 1791 which led, in turn, to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti. The Haitian Revolution in turn, led to the outbreak of revolts by enslaved Africans in the Caribbean, including Demerara, and intensified the struggle for African Emancipation and colonial liberation throughout the Caribbean Region. (Ministry of the Presidency)