Georgetown, Guyana, (October 8, 2015) – New Belgian Ambassador to Guyana, His Excellency, Guy Sevrin, commended Guyana’s strong advocacy for more regional and inter-regional integration. He was at the time making brief remarks after presenting his Letters of Credence to President David Granger, earlier today, at the Ministry of the Presidency.
Ambassador Sevrin was appointed by His Majesty, King Philippe of the Kingdom of Belgium. He said that being home to the CARICOM Secretariat, Belgium considers Guyana to be one of the most important countries in the region with huge economic potential.
“As we further strengthen and establish closer and more intense relations between our two countries you can be assured of my total dedication to the success of this mission,” Ambassador Sevrin said.
In his remarks, President Granger said that there is great scope for cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the areas of economic and commercial cooperation and in advancing our common interests, within international organisations.
“Guyana welcomes your accreditation as a further signal from the Kingdom of Belgium of its desire to promote friendly relations and to strengthen bilateral ties between our two countries in the spirit of respect and cooperation,” President Granger said.
He expressed the hope that Guyana, being a member of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), can, in concert with CARICOM, deepen its engagements with the European Union and with the countries of that union, which includes Belgium.
The President pointed out that in the past, Belgium has consistently had to approach the International Court to seek juridical settlements to its disputes with other countries. Their experience, the President said, would be of invaluable assistance to Guyana as it pursues the objective of a juridical settlement to a controversy arising out of threats by Venezuela to its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Later in the day, Ambassador Sevrin paid a courtesy call on Minister of Governance, with responsibility for Natural Resources and the Environment, Raphael Trotman, at his office on Brickdam this afternoon.
Areas of collaboration were discussed, with Minister Trotman expressing his desire to explore avenues, which can be beneficial to the country, especially in the areas of good governance, training, and provision of scholarships and mining.
Minister Trotman committed to frequent communication with the Ambassador in the near future to further discuss the areas of collaboration.
Guyana established diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Belgium on June 10, 1971.
Leave a Comment