Pres Ali, UK MPs hold talks on strengthening bilateral relations

In a push to further strengthen the bilateral relations between Guyana and the United Kingdom (UK), President Dr Irfaan Ali earlier in the week met with Alicia Kearns and Dan Carden – members of the British Parliament.
The two British Parliamentarians paid a courtesy call to the Guyanese leader on Monday at the Office of the President (OP) in Georgetown.

Kearns serves as the Conservative MP for Rutland and Stamford and Shadow Parliamentary Undersecretary at the UK Home Office, while Carden is the Labour MP for Liverpool Walton.
In a Facebook post, OP said that during the meeting, the President and the Members of Parliament “…discussed priority areas for collaboration in support of Guyana’s development agenda and the continued strengthening of UK-Guyana bilateral relations.”
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd and Deputy High Commissioner to Guyana, Liam McShane, also attended the meeting.
This visit by the British Parliamentarians comes about a month after President Ali had visited the UK for a series of high-level engagements, including with His Majesty King Charles III and the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
During his engagement with King Charles at Buckingham Palace, the Guyanese leader said they discussed ongoing collaborations in the areas of environmental protection, biodiversity, and climate action.
“We had a very good engagement. King Charles has recommitted his support to Guyana and lauded the work that we’re doing, and we came up, of course, with the priorities in these areas that we will pursue. I exchanged ideas on how best we can bring financing; we can look at a biodiversity model that is market-based… And importantly, one in which we can build an ecosystem around,” President Ali noted after the meeting.
However, as Guyana positions itself as a major player in biodiversity and ecological services, the Head of State has said the Commonwealth has similarly reaffirmed its support for the country’s efforts.
A key outcome from the engagement between the Guyanese President and the Commonwealth SG is an agreement to collaborate on strategic initiatives to support the Global Biodiversity Alliance. A Joint Working Team will advance efforts to establish an International Biodiversity Centre of Excellence based in Guyana.
Those engagements followed an announcement by former British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller, in January that the UK will join the Global Biodiversity Alliance – an initiative crafted by President Ali that seeks to accelerate international financing and technical expertise to conserve the world’s biodiversity resources.
During his working visit, President Ali also met with the top brass of United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF) in London.
During the meeting, the Guyanese leader and the UKEF chief executive officer, Tim Read, discussed key infrastructure projects as part of Guyana’s transformational agenda.
In a brief statement on his Facebook page, President Ali said, “Key issues discussed included current pipeline projects such as the CJIA terminal expansion and the expansion of UKEF’s portfolio in Guyana.”
According to the Head of State, teams from the Government of Guyana and UKEF will have follow-up meetings in the next three weeks to further advance these discussions.
The UKEF is the UK’s official export credit agency, which aids countries and private companies across the world to access the financial support they need to procure from the UK, thus unlocking the potential of the UK supply chain by making their bids more competitive.
Last October, it was announced that UKEF raised its financing capacity from £2.1 billion to £3 billion for both the Guyanese Government and the local private sector to tap into.
At the time of the announcement, President Ali had set out his priorities for possible UKEF collaboration over the next five years, including the second phase of the Linden to Lethem Road Expansion Project, from Mabura Hill to Lethem, as well as the deep-water port facility in Berbice and the modernisation of the country’s electricity transmission system.
Currently, the ongoing construction of a second terminal at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) – Guyana’s main port of entry – is being financed in part by the UKEF.
The modern 150,000-square-foot CJIA Terminal Two project, the design of which includes a range of premium amenities, is being executed by a UK-based company, BHM Construction. It is partnering with the Manchester Airport Group to design and construct the facilities within the 18-month timeline.
The Guyanese Government has allocated some $3.2 billion in Budget 2026 to complete this new terminal.