ACTING Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Manniram Prashad assured that the government remains strongly committed to close cooperation with the European Union (EU) which continues to make a significant contribution to several aspects of our national development.

He made this pitch during a function to mark the occasion of Europe Day last Friday evening, hosted by the Delegation of the European Commission to Guyana at University Gardens, East Coast Demerara.

..including infrastructure with assistance through the National Indicative Programme (NIP), emergency assistance; sea defence and coastal management; education, water and agriculture and low cost housing; the Linden Economic Advancement Fund which is a complement to LEAP and the Guyana Micro Project Programme (GMPP), among other areas in social and private sector,” he outlined.

Your assistance has also contributed to deepening and broadening the democratic process in Guyana as we continue to build an inclusive democracy and ensure political stability that has enabled the creation of an environment amenable for growth and development in which all Guyanese can benefit,” Prashad noted.

This is a wonderful occasion to pay tribute to all of Europe and its admirable achievements in that unique process of regional integration now encompassing 27 Members of States and a population of almost 500 million,” he said.

The challenges encountered in Europe’s historic experiment in the pursuit of peace, progress and cultural upliftment for all its citizens have been addressed with resolve, determination and as deep sense of the common good,” the minister observed.

Reflecting on the political and constitutional evolution of Europe serves as an inspiration and glorious example of what we human beings with strong political will and statesmanship can achieve in the design and reinvention of institutions to serve the highest ideals of humanity. Guyana draws on such aspiration for the reform and restructuring of institutions by which to ensure the highest level of accountability, racial harmony and social justice,” Prashad stated.

Today, it is appropriate to recall another giant step that Europe has taken last year on the December 13 with the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon,” he pointed out.

That political milestone provides the European Union with modern institutions and better working methods to encounter, effectively and efficiently, today’s challenges of shared sovereignty in the world of the 21st century,” he emphasized.

“The President of the European Commission, Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso, has frequently stressed the three main reasons why Europe needed the Treaty of Lisbon: to become efficient; render your institutions more democratic and transparent; and give Europe a stronger voice in the wider world,” the minister recalled.

“In paying tribute to the long and deep friendship between Guyana and many Member States of the EU, we wish to express appreciation for the considerable assistance provided for our economic and social development particularly for the physical infrastructure so badly needed for the sustainable management of our coastal areas and natural resources,” he alluded.

“Over the recent past, the engagement of Europe and Guyana, as with the rest of the Caribbean and even further a field, with our sister nations in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, has been extensively focused on the redesign of our trading relations,” he said.

Prashad said the challenges and opportunities of the Economic Partnership Agreement must certainly be addressed on a basis that ensures mutual benefit to both sides of the partnership and be a testimony that trade can be a genuine engine of sustainable human development and poverty eradication.

“Guyana, as you are fully aware, intends to chart a course by which the capacity of our productive sectors will become more efficient, diversified and competitive. For this reason, the commitments that the EU has made for a special envelope of one billion Euros for its Member States through Aid for Trade are already being explored by various Ministries of the government,” he said.

“It is imperative that all European agencies work assiduously with us to ensure that such a facility is quickly beneficial to both the public and private sector of Guyana,” the minister encouraged.

“Beyond trade, development assistance and technical cooperation, Guyana expects its partnership with Europe to bear fruit and exert increasing influence in many arenas of global importance,” he exhorted.

Prashad said faced with crises resulting from the shortage of food and soaring prices; escalating cost of energy; and impacts of climate change, Guyana remains strongly convinced that a fundamental rethinking is required of the relations between rich and poor nations, of the increasing ownership and control of the world’s strategic resources by a few transnational corporations and the restricted voice of developing counties in the highest organs of the United Nations.

“It is on this basis that Guyana has called a New Global Human Order and welcomes the support that European Member States have afforded this call,” he stated.