Effective foreign policy crucial to development
-Insanally stresses
Stabroek News
April 11, 2003
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rudy Insanally, in his contribution to the budget debate on Tuesday, said the country must strengthen its foreign policy and diplomacy to make these more supportive of economic and social objectives.
He called on all Guyanese to recognise the role which foreign policy played, saying that too often it was seen as 'foreign' to domestic policy and in the eyes of the public it was seen as a drain rather than a contributor to national resources.
Speaking about the Suriname border issue, Insanally said, "dialogue and diplomacy offer the best hope for resolution, preservation of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, for without this there can be no economic development."
He added that the government continued to successfully resist claims, from wherever they arose through dialogue and negotiations. He declared that his ministry would seek to minimise conflict and maximise co-operation, adding that engagements with all neighbours, promotion of high-level visits, border commissions and co-operation councils was the way to go.
Insanally also described the prevailing world climate as one of uncertainty resulting in a sluggish global economy, which could have dire consequences to Guyana.
He said the current conflict in Iraq, like the Gulf War of 1991, are new hostilities which sent profound shock waves throughout the world with dangerous repercussions for all countries, but more particularly for the weak and vulnerable states. "There are now real fears that prospects for economic growth will be curtailed."
Insanally observed that the Caribbean had already witnessed a significant impact on the region's transportation and tourism industries.
He warned that a rationalisation of the region's air services was now an inevitable undertaking. "With the face-off in air travel, and now the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), tourism would be equally hard hit."
In addition, he remarked that the energy sector would worsen if the price of oil remained high. He argued that should all of these come to pass, Guyana could hardly hope to achieve meaningful economic and social progress. Worse yet, the minister predicted, international co-operation and more particularly external flows would be dangerously reduced. He said assistance promised at the Monterey International Conference in Mexico on the financing for development will in all likelihood not be forthcoming in the amount expected. "These resources will now be presumably diverted to peace-keeping and reconstruction efforts and other areas which are considered to be of strategic importance to donor countries."
He stressed that while engaged as a country and as a region, in trade negotiations within the World Trade Organisation and the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the country could expect less generosity of spirit from partners.
According to the Foreign Minister the factors which constrain the country's progress are not only exogenous, but also in large part endogenous. He noted the increase in violent crime, a difficult political situation, and damage to the social psyche of the citizenry. Taking into account all of these, Insanally said it was time the country strove for political stability. "Therefore it is a tribute to this government that despite these many forbidding events, it has managed to record notable progress in the areas of sugar production, a stable exchange rate, increased social services and additional reserves."
