President Janet Jagan extends invitation to Belgian investors
PRESIDENT Janet Jagan has extended an invitation to the business community of the Kingdom of Belgium, to visit Guyana and witness the tremendous potential that exists for trade and investment. President Jagan threw out the invitation during the presentation of credentials by new non-resident Ambassador of Belgium to Guyana, Baron Andre de Viron, at the Office of the President, Thursday. Responding to remarks by the European envoy, President Jagan said that Guyana and Belgium have maintained cordial relations over the years, sharing similar views on international affairs. Evidence, she noted, is in the development of relationships within the ambit of the cooperation programme between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. President Jagan recognised the historic role of Belgium in the evolution of the European Union, and the importance of Brussels as the capital, where the European Commission (EC) and the ACP Secretariat are located. Guyana, President Jagan said, was actively involved in the visionary process from which the ACP grouping emerged, adding, Guyana has been identified as the site of the Georgetown Declaration, a pivotal step on the road to Lome. She noted that at present, Guyana is host to the Cariforum Secretariat which coordinates development assistance between the European Union and the Caribbean. Speaking of the EU, President Jagan said it remains a critical market for three of Guyana's major exports, which also happen to be the pillars of the Guyanese economy - rice, sugar and rum. And, Guyana, along with its Caribbean neighbours, is working out a coordinated approach with the ACP countries in Africa and the Pacific, in the negotiations for a successor agreement to Lome. In this process, the safeguarding of the export of key commodities is "our highest priority", the Guyanese leader said. Also, Guyana continues to benefit from the European Union through the funding of many infrastructure projects, an area in which the maintenance of "our sea defences assumes a large importance since we are a low-lying coastal state". In addition, the Guyanese leader said, this country is appreciative of the help received from Finland, in capacity building through the granting of scholarships. President Jagan noted too, that in this era of trade liberalisation and globalisation, Guyana recognises the vital importance of regional integration, especially for small, vulnerable states, "if we are to respond effectively to the demands of the 21st century". It is in this regard, and within the context of the process of hemispheric economic integration, that "Guyana and our sister countries in CARICOM continue to lobby for a Regional Integration Fund (RIF), to avert the possibility of marginalisation in the implementation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas", President Jagan pointed out. According to the President, Guyana considers the experience of the member countries of the EU as relevant, and therefore seeks the sympathetic support of the Kingdom of Belgium for this initiative. The President said that Guyana has been actively involved in the preparatory process for the historic summit of Latin American, Caribbean and European countries scheduled for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil towards the end of this month. "As the Caribbean's representative on the Rio Group, we are cognisant of our role as a nexus between Latin America and the Caribbean, and look forward to the results of the Rio encounter, not only because of the opportunities it will afford for a closer relationship between the two regions," but also because the meeting will act as a catalyst for the promotion of more active bilateral relations between Guyana and Belgium, the President said. She agreed with a suggestion by the newly-accredited Ambassador that an excellent method of revitalisation relations would be to build on the firm basis of friendship and cooperation, established by the late President Cheddi Jagan, when he visited that country. In echoing the sentiments of Ambassador Baron Andre de Viron that the Guyanese society is a multicultural one, President Jagan said that mutual respect and understanding at the national level have always been the Government's thrust in defence and promotion of hard-earned democracy. To this end, she said, her Government is committed to the maintenance of peace stability and the progressive development of Guyana.
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