Georgetown, GINA, January 31, 2004

Minister of Finance Sasenarine Kowlessar has congratulated United States Agency for International Development (USAID) representatives, especially Dr. Manuel Orozco for the report, ‘Linking Back to Communities of Origin: Contributions of the Guyanese Diaspora’.
Dr. Orozco was instrumental in preparing the draft report and also presented his findings at the ceremony yesterday. Also present at the presentation was United States Ambassador Roland Bullen.
At the presentation, Minister Kowlessar expressed his gratitude to UASID, GO-project for sponsorship of the study and noted that the study will be useful for policy intervention in various areas.
Additionally, he noted that the study forces Government to dialogue on the important role of remittances to Guyana’s development.
Mr. Kowlessar also congratulated the two Home Town Associations (HTAs) that played a major role in the development of specific areas in Guyana.
The associations were the Linden Fund which has membership spread across the USA and the Guyanese Assisting in Development (GUYAID), which is based in Washington.
Both associations were represented and made presentations on their remittance contributions to Guyana.