Relations with Latin American group will open up markets for Guyana --secretary-general
A market which is 85 per cent of the population of Latin America will be available to Guyana should it establish a relationship with the 11-member Latin American Integration Association (ALADI). This is the view of ALADI Secretary-General, Ambassador Juan Rojas Penso, when he addressed representatives of the business community and the diplomatic corps at the seminar room of the Foreign Service Institute, New Garden Street yesterday. He said that a relationship with ALADI could offer opportunities for the members of the private sector to identify strategic partners as well as facilitate investment in their companies, either through a bilateral agreement between Guyana and member countries of ALADI or an agreement between CARICOM and ALADI. Ambassador Rojas also explained the functions of the ALADI Secretariat, which gives technical and other support to the member states of the organisation. He noted that the ALADI secretariat was regarded as the spokesperson for the member countries of the organisation. Ambassador Rojas is on a four-day visit to Guyana at the invitation of Foreign Minister, Clement Rohee. His visit is part of the Foreign Ministry's efforts to provide the private sector and policy makers with opportunities to better understand the integration mechanisms and markets in Latin American and the Caribbean and to intensify economic, trade and investment relations with the major economies of the region. During his stay Ambassador Rojas will hold discussions with President Bharrat Jagdeo and Rohee. The member countries of ALADI are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Guyana has trade and other links with several of these countries including Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela. Among the audience yesterday morning were Rohee, Ambassadors Guillermo Martinez, Hector Azocar and Wang Fuyuan of Colombia, Venezuela and the People's Republic of China; Sylvia Peters of the US Embassy, Director of the Local Office of the Organisation of American States, Michael Wyllie; Assistant Secretary General of CARICOM, Byron Blake; Public Sector Commission chairman, George Jardim; Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman, Manniram Prashad, and David Yankana of the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industry.
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