Guyana-EU hold political dialogue

The Fourth Round of European Union (EU)-Guyana Political Dialogue took place on June 27, 2016 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guyana.

A joint release yesterday  said that the talks have been held in the framework of Article 8 of the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement. The previous rounds of Political Dialogue between Guyana and the EU took place in 2009, 2010 and 2014.

The release said that the objectives of the dialogue are to exchange information to boost  mutual understanding and to enable the establishment of agreed priorities and shared agendas.

The two sides at the meeting
The two sides at the meeting

The Guyanese delegation was led by Carl B. Greenidge MP, Second Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and included Ambassador Audrey Jardine-Waddell, Director General (ag) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as other senior officials of the Ministry.

The EU side was led by the Ambassador of the European Union, Jernej Videti? and included British High Commissioner Greg Quinn, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany Lutz Görgens, Ambassador of the French Republic Michel Prom and Political Counsellor of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Maurice Pourchez.

The issues discussed dealt with bilateral, regional and international matters of mutual interest.  Discussions covered many issues and included  EU-Guyana and regional development cooperation; human rights and governance; security; climate change; and regional integration.

The EU is the main provider of grant funding to Guyana.

The release said that the dialogue ended with the two sides expressing their satisfaction on its usefulness in the context of EU-Guyana relations. They have agreed to hold the next round of Political Dialogue in one year’s time.