Senior Finance Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, on Friday met with Mr Clinton White, Regional Representative of the United States Agency for International Development in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean (USAID/ESC), to discuss the strengthening of partnerships with Guyana.
During the discussions, Minister Singh, expressed appreciation to USAID for its staunch support to Guyana, especially in its most difficult times, and also thanked the United States for adopting a proactive and pivotal stance when democracy in Guyana came under threat in 2020.
“The position of the United States in helping to protect Guyana’s democracy will forever be
remembered,” the Finance Minister reiterated as he also alluded to various projects which have been supported by the USA to assist Guyana in its development agenda over the years.
USAID’s Regional Representative, Mr White, in his response said that USAID’s relationship with Guyana is of utmost importance as he outlined the areas of support his agency would be focusing on such as Disaster Resilience, Climate Change, Security, Education, and Financing Sustainable Development. These, he said, will form part of USAID’s new Regional Strategy.
Minister Singh highlighted that these areas are in alignment with the Government of Guyana’s own priorities and stressed that the assistance to be provided must be complementary to its endeavours.
In recent times, USAID has been focusing its attention on supporting many countries during their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to strengthen development gains in these countries in such areas as climate change, conflict and humanitarian crises.
Only a few days ago, while making a US $30,000 donation (GY$6.2 million) to Guyana to assist the country in immediate flood relief efforts, the Regional Representative asserted that climate change has become an essential part of the United States’ President Joseph Biden’s foreign policy and, therefore, USAID would be working with Caribbean countries to strengthen their awareness and preparedness for the impact of climate change.
Minister Singh reiterated the Government’s strong commitment to work closely with development partners like USAID in advancing the dramatic transformation that Guyana is currently undergoing.
