President Donald Ramotar charged Guyana’s overseas diplomats on Monday to help maintain the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, so as to provide opportunities for economic advancement and the social well-being of all citizens.
This call was made at the opening session of the Heads of Missions Conference held at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
The president also said it is imperative that diplomats are trained in foreign languages, pointing particularly to Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch. He noted that Guyana’s image must be protected and upheld by the heads of overseas missions, as they are “at the very front lines of our country’s foreign policy and in the area where you have to promote Guyana and to pursue our people’s interest internationally”.
President Ramotar said the “true picture” of Guyana must be seen publicly. “We have to ensure that the true picture of our country is well known abroad: that we are reliable partners, we take our decisions seriously; we hold up our commitment and we are open to do business with the rest of the world,” he said.
The president stressed that “foreign policy is the continuation of domestic policy” on the one hand, and a reflection of what the country wants to display internationally on the other. He said too that it is equally important for diplomats to be “plugged into everything that is happening at home”.
“You must know everything that is taking place and you should be asking questions when you do not have all the information,” President Ramotar said. “You must be aware of our plans and our day-to-day work – for you to contribute to those plans that we have to develop Guyana. At the same time, we have to always be aware of what is happening internationally, to assess its impact on us and to determine what measures to take to get advantage of, or to minimise any impact on our country.”
Protecting our image
He said at the local level, the administration through the Foreign Affairs Ministry relies heavily on diplomats to issue advice on international and regional affairs. “The overarching policy and position is for you to help us to maintain our sovereignty and territorial integrity… ,” the president stressed.
Mr Ramotar noted that it is important for the diplomatic community to protect Guyana’s image, as it is a small country that depends on the international community for support in many instances. “… that is why we must pursue a foreign policy and be conscious of the image of our country, this is indeed very important. It has even grown in importance in recent times, largely because of what is taking place domestically as well.”
He said for some time local media houses have been on a “crusade to paint every single important project and every single important step that we take in a negative light and paint it with the brush of corruption”, noting that he suspects that the intent of same is as a result of internal politics.
He added that the resultant negative image would impact on “our international relations and that is where your job becomes even more important for us, in order to try to ensure that the image of our country is not damaged, because it also affects our economic well- being,” the president stated.
President Ramotar added that Guyana’s private sector does not have the resources necessary to fund the investment that is needed to develop the country and increase production and productivity as well as create new jobs. It is for this reason he believes that creating partnerships with citizens abroad “is very vital to our country”.
Diaspora
The diplomats were charged also to be engaged with the diaspora. “We have to tap into the diaspora to help the development of Guyana,” the president said. He noted that it is possible that those living abroad are objective and may be able to fertilise local ideas. “They can bring new perspective to us and they can bring best practices from what they see operating from different places that can help us in developing of our own society as well… We must be open to those ideas… We can benefit from the professional skills that have been acquired…. Our image must also be one of a country that is efficient and that is where also we can learn a lot from many of our nationals that work in different areas.”
Meanwhile, in an overview of the performance of the overseas missions over the past three years, Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett said Guyana has achieved much over those years. She noted that the time has come for diplomatic and consular representatives abroad to return home and reorient themselves with developments that are taking place under the new administration.
According to the minister, much has happened since the last meeting of heads of missions in terms of foreign relations and Guyana’s development.
In terms of our foreign relations – our relations with Venezuela and Suriname were taken to a higher level which has seen among other things former President Jagdeo visiting Venezuela for the first time in 10 years and Guyana for the first time exporting rice to Venezuela,” she said.
She added that several consulate offices have been established abroad with the aim of deepening international relations. “Heads of mission, you are well aware that foreign policy is being conducted in an evolving global environment where foreign ministries must move beyond the boundaries of traditional diplomacy. It is imperative that we incorporate in our mandate issues, such as external trade, climate change, sustainable development, information technology, human rights and migration among many other areas.”
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