Guyana and Argentina will enhance their bilateral cooperation on tourism, which will redound to the benefit of the people and economies of both countries.
After meeting with a high-level Argentine delegation on Wednesday, acting Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali disclosed that the countries will work to more closely cooperate on this fast-growing sector in the South American market.
The meeting was a follow-up to Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett’s meeting with officials from the Argentine Tourism Ministry, among others, during her trip to Argentina earlier this year.
Minister Ali said the expansion of the country’s market has been long outlined, but Guyana has not taken full advantage of destinations within the trading blocs of which it is a member.
“One such destination is Argentina,” Ali said, stating that both countries are members of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). As such, it presents an “exceptional opportunity to expand the bilateral relationships that would, in a way, add value to our membership in UNASUR” and bring the two countries and their peoples together.
The minister said the countries needed to develop a common approach that could focus on the strengths of their tourism offerings to reach different markets by sharing and understanding each other’s product.
Ali added that since Argentina has a well-developed market, Guyana can use that country’s experience to develop its own in a collaborative effort.
He noted that Guyanese need to see the learning of Spanish as an important part of the development of the country that would break the language barrier.
He said, in this respect, exchange programmes such as student exchange initiatives would be a very important component.
Argentine Tourism Ministry Undersecretary of Tourism Quality Gonzalo Casanova Ferro, who headed the delegation, said cooperation between the two countries will create more job opportunities in the tourism sector and the development of the economy.
Cooperation between Guyana and Argentina has intensified since the re-establishment of the latter’s embassy two years ago.
