Dear Editor,
President Dr. Irfaan Ali and Prime Minister Brigadier Mark Phillips must be commended by all for their exemplary and committed leadership in respect to the rapid economic growth and development that are currently taking place in almost every village, town and region of the country.
Not only have they invested heavily in modernising the infrastructure, renewing technology, transforming education, updating health care, expanding the agriculture sector, and improving the lives of the people, especially the poor; but, since taking office in 2020, they have travelled to every region of the country to promote their policies and to make sure that everyone is involved in the development process, regardless of race, ethnicity, or party affiliation.
With proper and efficient management of the oil revenue, and with a GDP hovering around 45 percent, Guyana, under the leadership of President Dr. Ali and Prime Minister Brigadier Mark Phillips, is destined to move its status from being an underdeveloped country to becoming a developing or developed country. Simply put, Guyana will advance from its Third World (Global South) rank to a First World (Global North) country. This is largely due to its huge oil resources; its enormous minerals, such as gold; and its immense agricultural production which, according to President Dr. Ali, could make it the breadbasket of the Caribbean.
In the past, Guyana, as a member of Caricom and the United Nations, was hardly recognized by most of the leaders from the developed countries of North America and Western Europe. For the longest period, these leaders were more familiar with Barbados and Jamaica for a Caribbean vacation on their pristine beaches, and Trinidad and Tobago for its oil, carnival celebration and high-income economy. Today that has changed with the discovery of huge oil reserves in Guyana, and its robust development under the leadership of President Dr. Ali and Prime Minister Mark Phillips.
Regionally, Guyana is recognized as the leader of the Caribbean, and internationally, it is considered among the top countries in the world. The recent visit by U.S Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Canada’s Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maninder Sidhu, is solid proof of the country’s recognition and importance to the developed countries.
Since becoming President, His Excellency has on several occasions accentuated some serious high-level issues — including poverty, inequality, food insecurity, energy security, and climate change — to bolster the United Nations global initiatives to protect the global environment and its eight billion inhabitants. He stressed the interdependence of these issues, and called for the formation of a new global coalition to address them.
The President’s call came at a critical time: as the world faces increasing threats from the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events, rising sea levels, the loss of biodiversity, food shortages, rising poverty, and worsening energy security. He also called for the diversification of the economy, fair trade policies, and the transfer of technology from the developed to the underdeveloped countries, as well as the establishment of relations at all levels: economic, political, social, and cultural.
Dr. Ali has stated that food and energy security have become pressing concerns in that, as the world population grows, poverty and starvation increase. He intoned that, today, more than 800 million people, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and in some parts in India, are living on less than US$2.00 per day, and some 2.5 million are living in extreme poverty. He alerted the leaders of the world that, during the past two years, global poverty has increased from 7.4 to 9.6 percent, which is the worst the world has ever seen and, 1 in 3 children will experience stunted growth because they are not getting enough food, or not getting the vitamins they need in their food. To support his claim, several health experts have asserted that stunted growth also affects cognitive ability, making it more difficult for children to learn and excel in school.
While President Dr. Ali has made it quite clear that the developed nations are responsible for most of the problems mentioned above, he, however, offered an olive branch. He told the world leaders that his government has been leading a massive food security programme in the Caribbean Community (Caricom), with heightened efforts to reduce the region’s US$5 billion food import bill by 25 percent by 2025, and that Guyana is ready to lead in the areas of climate change and energy and food security to alleviate the rise in poverty.
In three years, both Dr. Ali and Brigadier Phillips have taken Guyana to new levels of regional and global recognition and admiration never seen before. Today they have transformed Guyana into a highly respectable country, not only among its Caricom and Latin American neighbours, but also in the international community.
Our leaders are dedicated and devoted to increasing the wellbeing of the people, and to making Guyana a prosperous country.
Sincerely,
Dr Asquith Rose
