– Min. Greenidge reports, particularly in area of trade
THE Foreign Affairs Ministry has had many successes of late in the area of economic diplomacy, particularly now that new opportunities are open to the country.
“We have worked and had successes on a variety of fronts. The ambassadors in a range of locations… In India, there is work done in relation to new initiatives by way of markets and collaborations,” Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge said Monday.
“They are working in relation to areas by way of exports, alcohol, products coming out of Demerara Distillers Limited for example.
“In Cuba, we’ve also had success where markets in relation to rice and paddy and Panama have [also] had success, in some of them for the first time,” he told media operatives at a press conference here.
He said that outside of rice, there have been many other successes in accessing markets in Latin America and elsewhere.
“They were able to conclude with a South African company, maybe more than one, that in light of the prospects in Guyana and output of gold, for example, and other precious minerals, there could be refining done in Guyana by a South African company,” Minister Greenidhe said, adding:
“This is what economic diplomacy is about; they are now waiting on information from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to take that process further.
“That is new; it hasn’t been done before, and this is one of the examples of what we have done, and what can be achieved.”
He said that although on the surface there seems to have been no “dramatic changes”, engagements are being had regularly at the policy level, whereby prospects are examined to determine the feasibility of proposed ventures.
Said he: “Unfortunately, in the known course of events, unless there is a crisis, like a war, aggression, bombing or something, in diplomacy, a lot of it is routine.
“You are not in a position to report dramatic changes from day to day; it is the leg-work that has to be done that takes you forward.”
