–reiterates the country’s commitment to helping St. Vincent amid volcanic eruptions

SECRETARY-GENERAL of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, on Wednesday, received Guyana’s new Ambassador to CARICOM, George Talbot, in a virtual ceremony which also highlighted the country’s lead role in the region’s food production and food security.
Guyana holds lead responsibility for agriculture, agricultural diversification and food security in the CARICOM quasi-Cabinet, and the country’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, earlier this year, presented to his colleague Heads of Government, a “Food Production and Food Security Agenda,” which outlines, in detail, the strategy and action plan for transforming the agriculture sector in CARICOM.

“The secretariat looks forward to working closely with you and your colleagues on this most important initiative,” Secretary-General LaRocque told Guyana’s new ambassador to CARICOM.
Ambassador Talbot, in response, welcomed the renewed focus on food and nutrition security as a regional priority, including the work being done by a special CARICOM Task Force, recently established under the chairmanship of Guyana’s Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha.
“The decision …to establish a special Ministerial Task Force on Food Production and Food Security bodes well for our collective efforts to realise the economic potential of the region’s agri-food sector and to reduce the food import bill,” he said.
On a separate note, Ambassador LaRocque acknowledged Guyana’s provision of tangible support to sister CARICOM Member State, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where citizens are facing the wrath of an explosive “La Soufriere” volcano.

Ambassador Talbot restated Guyana’s commitment to provide immediate, medium and long-term support for the island-nation.
“I renew this commitment in unison with the entire Caribbean Community whose rallying in the face of this volcanic challenge is a prime example of integration in practice – a community there for each other in times of challenge and need,” he said.
With his accreditation, Ambassador Talbot becomes a member of the CARICOM Committee of Ambassadors, as a special representative of his Head of State.
His responsibilities as a member of the committee will include assisting in advancing the implementation, at the national level, decisions of the organs of CARICOM.
It was reported that Talbot is a career diplomat who joined the Foreign Service in 1993. He has served as the Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations (UN), non-resident

Ambassador to the State of Israel and non-resident High Commissioner to the Republic of Namibia.
He has represented Guyana at the UN and in other international fora on economic, social, political and related issues. He headed the delegation in New York during Guyana’s chairmanship of the Rio Group in 2006 and of the Union of South American Nations in 2011.
Talbot has also held several posts on UN inter-governmental bodies, including Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee of the UN General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session (September 2012 – September 2013).
Talbot holds an M.A. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University; and a B.A. in Modern Languages (Spanish/French) from the University of Guyana. He is fluent in English and Spanish; conversant in French and Portuguese.