CASTRIES, St. Lucia – Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali Wednesday urged regional countries to get involved in the integration of the economic expansion of his country, saying that is a conversation we are will to have”.
Guyana President Dr. Irfaan Ali addressing the joint sitting of Parliament in St. Lucia on Wednesday. (CMC Photo)Ali, who became the first Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leader to address a joint sitting of the St. Lucia Parliament, said Guyana’s prosperity must also be regarded as prosperity for the 15-member regional integration movement.
“Today, I want to say that our country Guyana and I say our country Guyana because it is part of our region, is open for investment. There are tremendous opportunities coming our way,” he told legislators.
He said Guyana is now recording double digit growth rate having just completed 40 per cent growth rate, down from the previous year of 60 per cent “and growth rate in the upper 20 per cent in the coming years.
“But how do we ensure that the region is integrated in the economic expansion of Guyana? And that is a conversation, we are willing to have.
“How do we use this opportunity to create energy security for the region, to build a platform through which the entire region must enjoy energy security. How do we use this opportunity to ensure that we enable the region to become food secure to end malnutrition and hunger?
Ali said that this is a problem in the region, adding that malnutrition and hunger are important issues the region must tackle, noting “the growing population, especially among children are becoming obese leading to health related issues.
“How are we going to tackle that? How do we work into integrating our system so that all the people of our region would have a base line access to health care?. We are not saying everyone will have the same access, societies are not structured that way, but how do we set a model, a baseline that every citizen must enjoy,” he asked.
He said a level of service in water, health, education, infrastructure, recreation that every citizen must enjoyed is imperative.
‘We have enough resources in the region to set those base line targets and work towards having every citizen of the region enjoy those targets,” said Ali, who is also chairman of the 15-member regional integration movement.
Ali, who is here as a guest of the St. Lucia government as the island celebrates its 45th anniversary of political independence from Britain, said it is necessary for the private sector to get get involved in the socio-economic development of the region, urging them to invest in businesses and projects beneficial to the region.
“I believe if we create that environment we can add to the value chain here in St. Lucia and diversify the economy. We must use the strength of the economy to diversify the economy, and if the strength of the economy is tourism then we have to look at the value addition to tourism as a tool to diversification.
“These are the things that we are working on and these are the things I think we can help to share experiences on because as I said, we see our prosperity as the region’s prosperity. You can rely on Guyana, you can count on Guyana and know that in Guyana you have a friend and a partner in your development and in your advancement,” he told legislators.
Ali noted the close relationship between St. Lucia and Guyana dating back to back to the colonial era, adding “many St. Lucians and Guyanese share the same blood…and that for me speaks to a bond that is unbreakable.
“That’s why for us it is not strange that St. Lucia continues to support Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,,” Ali said, in an obvious reference to the ongoing border disoute between Guyana and Venezuela.
The two countries have an ongoing territorial dispute over the ownership of the Essequibo region, which makes up about two-thirds of Guyana and is home to 125,000 of the country’s 800,000 citizens.
Both Guyana and Venezuela have made presentations to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) relating to the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the border between Venezuela and the then-British Guiana, confirmed as legally enforceable.
Last December, Guyana and Venezuela’s leaders ended a meeting in St. Vincent and the Grenadines agreeing “directly or indirectly” not to threaten or use force against one another in any circumstances, as they continue to seek a resolution to the border dispute between them.
“St. Lucia stands strongly with Guyana in defence of our territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Ali said, adding that the ties that bind the two CARICOM countries “ stronger than the distance that separates us.
“Those ties extend to our common family, the Caribbean Community, despite the disparities in size, we both share similar vulnerabilities within this region and also our externalities,” Ali said , noting that both countries are affected by climate change, the unfavourable changes in international markets as well as the European Union trade regime.
“These changes impacted adversely the banana growing sector in St. Lucia and sugar in Guyana. In many respects we are still travelling in the same boat to a common destination.
“Independence set us off on that journey to fulfil the aspirations of our people , to be in charge of their own destiny and to dispel underdevelopment, relegate poverty and give our people he good life,” Ali said.
He spoke of the various investments being undertaken in his country from the oil and gas sector, to health, education and agriculture and urged the private sector in the region to get involved so as to ensure a better way of life for the Caribbean population.
“Indeed independence for any nation represents the liberation from foreign control, but more importantly it also signifies the unleashing of the boundless energy and potential of its people.
“Independence represented a call to action, a commitment to harnessing the collective will of the people. Independence in this sense transcends mere symbolism. It is a living, breathing aspect of national life that propels us forward in our quest for more just equitable future, for and by the people,” Ali told lawmakers.
