US/Guyana partnership always evolving – US Ambassador

May 01, 2009 News

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United States of America Ambassador to Guyana, John Melvin Jones, has noted the continuous evolution of the United States of America/Guyana partnership.
“Whenever we see a common vision, equal commitment, openness to criticism and new ideas and a focus on results we’ll continue to work together,” the Ambassador said.
Ambassador Jones was at the time addressing the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA) business luncheon, yesterday, at the Regency Hotel.
He told the gathering that currently, the US Embassy, the private sector and the New York-based Guyanese and American Business and Professional Council (GABPC) have teamed up to start an initiative to match Guyanese businesses that are looking for buyers, suppliers or investors with businesses in the United States.
According to him, information is gathered here on a questionnaire and sent to the GABPC. Searches are done through their contacts in the New York area to find people who are interested in investing in opportunities in Guyana.
“I am pleased to say so far that we’ve had a number of businesses in Guyana contact us for information and the GABPC is working to develop more leads.”
As for the bilateral cooperation between the US and Guyana, Ambassador Jones opined that the record of committed cooperation speaks for itself.
According to the Ambassador, both countries have something at stake and thus must cooperate closely to achieve benefits for both countries.
“I see Guyana as inexplicably linked to the United States, first by people. Last year the embassy found that 70 per cent of people coming in for visas claimed that they had relatives living in the United States. There are at least 200,000 Guyanese living in New York City…this is a living testament to our cultural ties.”
Secondly, he added, the US and Guyana are linked economically and the two countries are linked by its form of government as both President Obama and President Jagdeo were elected to represent all the people.
“While I can only speak for US Government, this partnership includes more than the cooperation between the US embassy and the Government of Guyana. It includes the interaction between private sectors and non-governmental sectors, the civil society groups, both here and in the United States, and through the principal put forward today for general cooperation between our two countries, the ingredient for an effective partnership could apply to each country.”
Ambassador Jones noted that it is critical to lay out a goal and see that the goals of both countries are aligned.
Secondly, he added, they want to ensure that all parties involved share the same levels of commitment and thirdly, have openness to new ideas and be willing to accept constructive criticism and finally, the principle is to keep a focus on what you want as a result.
He added that the first key to any successful partnership is that the partners share the same vision.
On the micro level, he pointed out, both the US and Guyana have citizens who want to promote safe, democratic and a proper society, and both businesses and people want democratic rule.
According to the Ambassador, the US invests a lot in Guyana. This year alone, he added, the US Government is investing over $30M in programmes to combat HIV/AIDS, economic growth and a number of other projects. “Occasionally there are calls for more US resources in some of these areas. Let me just reiterate that the US government commits resources where it feels it is most likely to get the best return on its investment. If we don’t see sufficient commitment by our partners in any particular area we are going to be hesitant about putting additional resources there.”
He added that equal commitment means both sides are willing to put significant resources towards achieving that shared goal.
“I am pleased to say that in specific areas where the US Embassy and the Government of Guyana have shared a vision, an equal commitment, openness to criticism and new ideas and that we focus on results we have accomplished some great things and we’ll no doubt continue to accomplish them.”
Ambassador Jones said that the US government has spent $80M to partner with the Ministry of Health to help reduce HIV/AIDS infection in a rate that fell from three per cent to one per cent over the last four years.
Over the last four years, USAID has spent more than US$7M to support economic growth in collaboration with the private sector and the government of Guyana.
The Guyana Trade and Investment Support Programme (GTIS) has also recorded a number of achievements.

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