Our Foreign Service must adapt to changing times – Minister Greenidge

Jul 20, 2016 News

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs began its orientation programme for newly appointed Heads of Missions last Monday at the Foreign Service Institute. The main address was delivered by Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge who urged the appointees that to provide exceptional service they need to be adaptable in this ever-changing world.
Greenidge stressed the importance for ambassadors to never stop learning. He said “I want the foreign service to recognize that it will have to develop skills that many of which will lie outside of the traditional diplomatic arena.”
He said that his Ministry is not interested in recruiting officers whose only interest and training is in international relations. According to the Minister, this is important because persons need to bring specific skills to the table.
Greenidge identified money laundering, chemical weapons and drug trafficking as some of the issues outside of international relations which diplomats will be forced to come to grips with in order to be successful.
He informed the ambassador-designates that their position will require reviewing and fully understanding information sources. Greenidge said that he sees the diplomatic service as a discipline which seeks to always be engaged in the development of skills.
Shifting attention to the government, Greenidge said that in the programme which is planned by the state there is need for the Ministry to lead in a variety of areas by way of new initiatives in economic diplomacy.
He said that the Caribbean Region has been working on trying to fashion a regional investment code with great difficulty. Due to this, Greenidge said that the onus is now on individual states to negotiate bilateral agreements on its own behalf.
The Minister said that diplomats will be required not only to be aware of, but to master the essentials of trade agreements, investment arrangements, as well as global issues which they will encounter in political diplomacy.
To enhance the importance of having the ability to broker such agreements and respond to these critical issues, Greenidge said that the programme upon which the ambassadors will be embarking will be wider than usual.
He said that the Ministry’s Consular work is not limited to dealing with visas and Guyanese abroad who would have found themselves on the other side of the law, but it also has responsibility for dealing with the diaspora.
Greenidge informed the new Heads of Missions that this aspect of Consular work can be one of the toughest. This is so since those in the diaspora are used to modern and efficient institutional systems, and as such are more aggressive with their issues.
Greenidge said that there is a programme currently underway to fashion the communication between members of the diaspora and the institutions here in Guyana.
The Orientation Programme is expected to expose the newly appointed Heads of Missions in the main areas of Guyana’s Foreign Policy and other responsibilities which relate to their responsibilities as diplomatic representatives of Guyana abroad.
The broad areas which will feature in the programme are: the expectations for Heads of Missions, the role of the Mission in promoting investment and trade, border issues, Consular Matters, Guyana’s Tourism Potential and Anti-money laundering procedures.
The newly appointed diplomats partaking in the programme are High Commissioner to South Africa Dr. Kenrick Hunte; Permanent Representative to the United Nations Michael Tenpow; Ambassador to Kuwait Dr. Shamir Ally; High Commissioner to the United Kingdom David Pollard; Ambassador to Belgium David Hales and Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago and the Eastern Caribbean Cammie Ramsaroop.

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