–EU Ambassador

THE government, in collaboration with the European Union, will soon launch a comprehensive digital wood-tracking system for greater sustainability and transparency in the timber industry.
This was disclosed by the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Guyana René Van Nes during Europe Day celebrations last Thursday evening.

The EU ambassador pointed out that Guyana is one of the three countries worldwide that has both a forest partnership and a forest law enforcement governance and trade partnership with the EU.
It is through this partnership that the system will be launched. It will replace the current paper-based framework for wood tracking.

“With a digital system, the Guyana Forestry Commission can track wood products in real time, and that makes the whole system extremely transparent, so that there is a very good chance that Guyana can maintain its very low deforestation rate,” he explained.
The system will enhance the Commission’s capacity to monitor elements such as timber production, processing, and trade.

The digital system is part of a larger Guyana-EU partnership focused on forest preservation and sustainable forestry practices.
The collaboration extends beyond timber, with the EU’s Global Gateway Initiative aiming to support Guyana’s development in new sectors such as health, water management, and renewable energy.

According to the ambassador, through this initiative, the EU hopes to help the country develop a regulatory framework for the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals here.
“We hope to see Guyana in the future producing pharmaceuticals to meet its own needs, the needs of the region, and maybe even global needs,” he said, adding that discussions are already underway to bring this to fruition.