The Governments of Guyana and China yesterday signed an Air Services agreement which lays the foundation for flights between the two countries.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill and Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Guyana, Guo Haiyan signed the agreement during a ceremony at the Ministry’s boardroom at Kingston, Georgetown.
During brief remarks, Edghill said that the agreement will address matters such as the grant of rights, airline designation and authorization, revocation, suspension of authorization or imposition of conditions, capacity and frequency provisions, recognition of certificates and licences, aviation safety and security and tariffs.
Edghill challenged the Ambassador to invite China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Air China and others to look into flying the Guyana/China route.
According to Edghill, the agreement complements the more than fifty Air Services agreements Guyana has already established with other subscribing states.
While Guyana and China have “excellent” trade relations in different fields, Edghill said the reality is there is no direct flight between the two countries.
As such, he said the signature of the agreement puts the legal framework in place to address this challenge. “So China and Guyana will not only be friendly and distant but will become nearer,” he said.
Additionally, Edghill said the signing of the agreement also reflects the Government’s commitment to connecting Guy-ana to the rest of the world. “Guyana is open to business with the entire world,” he said.
Annually there is significant traffic in terms of passenger and cargo between Guyana and China, Edghill said.
He noted that the enactment of the agreement will foster direct people-to-people contact for the advancement of cultural interactivity between Guy-ana and China. “Guyana also anticipates that this agreement will have a positive impact on Guyana’s tourism landscape as well as the wider Caribbean and the Latin America region,” Edghill said.
Edghill added that the trade, commerce and tourism opportunities are “immense” once air connectivity is established.
He further stated that it is anticipated that airlines of both countries will capitalize on the opportunities that exist for free movement of people and cargo between the two countries. “In essence, this will allow for an open market for airlines to operate and advance air transport services trade and economic growth between the two countries,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Ambassa-dor Haiyan said for years the two countries have been exploring the possibility for civil aviation cooperation. In 2019, she said negotiations and pre- parations began between the two sides.
“Today’s signing of the agreement is an important step to implement the consensus of President Xi Jinping and President Ali’s bilateral cooperation….. Laying a legal foundation for the deepening of our civil aviation cooperation and will strongly support economic and trade cooperation and facilitate people to people exchanges between China and Guy-ana,” the Ambassador said.
“China-Guyana relations have maintained a good momentum of development…. Standing at a new starting point I have every reason to believe that with the leadership of the Presidents of the two countries and the common expectation of our two peoples, China and Guyana will definitely become even closer and will usher in another new milestone in our bilateral cooperation,” she added.
This year marked the 50th anniversary of China/ Guyana diplomatic relations. Over the past century, Haiyan said the bilateral cooperation has grown significantly covering agriculture, mining, infrastructure, telecommunications and other fields.
“Today as we officially launch the civil aviation cooperation, we see further expansion of cooperation between China and Guyana….The geographic distance cannot stand in the way between the friendship between China and Guyana,” she said.
