Latin America and the Caribbean and European Commission Directorate of Development and Coopera-tion Jolita Butkeviciene says Guyana has lived up to expectations and has taken the lead in the Caribbean in implementing aspects of the Economic Partnership Agree-ment (EPA).
Butkeviciene is currently with a team in Guyana on a mission to assess the country’s cooperation with the European Union (EU), the Government Information Agency (GINA) said. She was accompanied by Head of the EU Delegation to Guyana, Ambassador Robert Kopecky and other officials to meet President Donald Ramotar on Monday at the Office of the President prior to other scheduled engagements with other government, opposition, parliament and private sector officials.
Butkeviciene’s agenda focuses on sea defence, poverty reduction and competitiveness in the sugar industry and improving social services.
She is expected to culminate her visit with a determination of the future of the EU’s development efforts in Guyana. The meeting with the president also focused on poverty reduction, the release said.
In an interview with GINA, Butkeviciene acknowledged that Guyana’s views on the EPA were well represented in the process of the negotiations and there is evidence of the country benefiting from the signed deal. She said Guyana benefits from a “big” trade surplus with the EU, where 18% of trade are imports and 30% are exports to the EU. She also disclosed that there is €75 million ready for disbursement in line with priorities of the Guyana Government.
According to GINA, in the lead-up to the agreement of 2008, former President Bharrat Jagdeo had proposed a mandatory review of the EPA five years after signature and every subsequent five-years and a guarantee that in the event of a conflict between the Agreement and the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, during implementation, the Treaty shall prevail.
The EU acceded to these two clauses before the initial signing of the Agreement on October 21, 2008 in Brussels.
