Pres Ali leads team to Washington, DC for high-level engagements with US officials

– to meet with business leaders, Guyanese Diaspora

In a move geared towards further strengthening bilateral ties between Guyana and the United States, President Dr Irfaan Ali has led a team to Washington, DC, for a series of high-level meetings with officials there.
According to a brief statement from the Press and Publicity Unit of the Office of the President, the Guyanese delegation departed local shores Sunday afternoon. President Ali is being accompanied by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd and Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud.

They will be in Washington for a series of high-level engagements including with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“At the invitation of the US Government, the delegation will meet with high-ranking US Government officials, including the Secretary of State and leaders of Congress and the Senate, to discuss a range of issues to further deepen bilateral relations between Guyana and the United States,” the missive detailed.
Moreover, President Ali will also be a guest speaker at several events hosted by the Atlantic Council and will meet with US business leaders. He has also been invited to speak at the Woodrow Wilson Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Council of the Americas roundtable, among other events.
The Head of State and his delegation are also expected to meet with Guyanese living in Washington.
President Ali will be featured on the CSIS Americas Programme, which will be livestreamed on the organisation’s web page on Wednesday at 13:00h. The discussion will be on “Strengthening the Guyana-US Bilateral Relationship”.
According to the CSIS website, this event will provide an opportunity to delve deeper into the US-Guyana partnership and will explore pathways to strengthening democratic practices, the challenges and opportunities for Guyanese oil wealth, and ways to bolster the economy to improve the socioeconomic outlook for the country. In addition, the discussion will touch upon Guyana’s role in the region, discuss the Guyana-Venezuela border dispute, and assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the opportunities for economic rebuilding and human capital development.

The United States and Guyana have a deep-rooted history of trade, public health initiatives, economic development, and collaboration to empower civil society, promote stability, and reinforce security.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that Guyana’s economy is the fastest growing in the world. Its economy is forecast to grow this year at roughly 47 per cent with a projected GDP of $9.5 billion. Additionally, Guyana serves as a gateway to Caribbean trade development as it is home to the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat.
“As Guyana’s largest trading partner, the United States should work closely with Guyana to fortify democratic institutions, trade, and regional cooperation. A stronger relationship between the US and Guyana is vital for the development of economies, trade policies, and humanitarian action,” the CSIS website stated.
Only last month, President Ali attended the Summit of the Americas that was held in California, US, under the theme: “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future”.
During his presentation at the Second Plenary session, he underscored the importance of equality, democracy, and energy security to the sustainability of countries in the Americas and the Caribbean, noting that the region has the potential to address these pressing issues.
The Guyanese Head of State told his colleagues from the western hemisphere that issues plaguing countries such as inequalities, threats to democracy, and energy insecurity among others cannot be divorced from the sustainability and prosperity of the region.
“We’re living among these challenges in a region that has the potential to be fully energy secure; bring prosperity to every home; have the greatest access to natural resources – abundant land and access to water resources to ensure food security; enough rainforests and technology to make a meaningful contribution to climate change; enough access to finances to bridge the inequality and support sustainable development for all. The question is why have we not achieved this?”
Nevertheless, the Guyanese leader noted that steps taken during the summit have demonstrated that leaders are ready to move forward along this path. Those actions include the setting up of joint committees to look at important issues of food security, climate change, energy security, and financing.
The Food Security Committee is co-chaired by the US and Guyana; the Energy Committee is co-chaired by Trinidad and Tobago and the US, while the Finance Committee is co-chaired by Barbados and the US.
Guyana is represented on the Finance Sub-Committee by Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh, on the Food Security by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud, and on the Energy sub-committee by Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat.
Just two weeks ago, President Ali disclosed these three committees are working out an action-oriented agenda on these issues for all of Caricom.
In fact, he told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Georgetown that on July 13, the first meeting of the Food Security Committee was held, and four areas of action were identified.
“[The Food Security] sub-committee met and that sub-committee has identified four areas under food security that must be pursued immediately: climate-smart agriculture; access to fertilisers; common policy-making environment; and transport and logistics.”