Immigration, Customs officers get Spanish language training

Thirty Guyanese immigration officers and customs inspectors have completed a Spanish familiarisation course conducted by the Mexican embassy in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance.

According to a press release from the Mexican Embassy in Georgetown, on May 9th the Mexican Ambassador to Guyana, Ivan Sierra, together with a member of the senior staff of the Ministry of Finance handed the completion certificates to the group with the highest grades.

Mexican Ambassador to Guyana, Ivan Sierra (centre) with the students
Mexican Ambassador to Guyana, Ivan Sierra (centre) with the students

The training aimed at making the officers more prepared to interact with the increasing number of tourists and business people from Spanish speaking countries in the region and was designed by professors from Mexico’s National Pedagogical University  UPN, the release stated.

Emil Emilsson, Mexican professor and linguist, taught the initial lessons in December 2015, and in March 2016, Mexican expert Jacqueline Aguilar, conducted on-site lessons.

Serra pointed to the opportunities for Guyana to share a closer interaction with its Spanish-speaking neighbourhood, as the countries bordering the Greater Caribbean have a combined population of over 200 million people. Thanks to the familiarisation course, immigration and customs inspectors will be able to better communicate with visitors and make sure they are “Bienvenidos a Guyana”, the release said.