London, United Kingdom – (April 27, 2017) President David Granger said that Guyana’s foreign missions must focus on propelling economic activity and investments; noting that staff who are deployed at those offices must be passionate about selling Guyana. “We have to start judging our performance on the basis of bankable returns, such as how many investors did you bring into the country? What new companies did they open? These are the new ways of measuring the performance of our missions around the world,” the President said during his meeting with the staff at Guyana’s High Commission in London this afternoon.
The Head of State explained that the prime responsibility of the foreign missions has to be the courting of investors and other development partners for Guyana, which as a small, developing state, requires this type of diplomacy.
Staff of Guyana’s High Commission in London
President David Granger addressing staff of Guyana’s High Commission in London
“Economics is the basis of any community; of any society, of any civilisation and once a country cannot feed itself and cannot support itself economically it will collapse. Our first and foremost duty is to ensure that our economy is strong and that is the mission of this High Commission here in London… We have adopted a form of diplomacy that has taken us into partnerships; into alliances, into communities with other countries and one of the most important is the Caribbean Community [CARICOM]… Guyana is a bountiful country but we have not been able to exploit our economic advantages for various reasons. One of the main reasons for my being here in London is to attract investments,” the President said.
Speaking of the importance of the diaspora, President Granger explained to the Mission’s staff that one of the ways of ensuring that Guyana’s economic interest is preserved is by ensuring that its citizens abroad are not ignored. He described the diaspora as a source of moral strength, wealth, knowledge and talent, which is needed in Guyana to drive economic development in various fields. “Without the diaspora countries will suffer economically… Guyanese citizens are the reason for us being here,” he said.
With elections on the horizon in the United Kingdom, President Granger told the staff at the Mission that regardless of the outcome of those elections, Guyana wants to maintain its diplomatic and bilateral relations with that country, which is still seen as a major financial centre.
President David Granger addressing staff of Guyana’s High Commission in London
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