…following President Ali’s bilateral discussions with Saudi Prince
In the wake of bilateral discussions between President Dr Irfaan Ali and Saudi Arabian Prince Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir on Sunday, a large delegation of State and private sector investors from Saudi Arabia will be paying a visit to Guyana this week.
President Ali is presently in Paramaribo, Suriname, for the 43rd Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). It was while there that he had the discussions with the prince, who is also the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and a Member of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“The discussions focused on a number of areas of cooperation, including investment, energy, logistics, food security, climate and regional development… a large state and private sector investment delegation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will visit Guyana on July 8 and 9,” a release from Office of the President said.
It was only in February that Prince Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir was in Guyana, with the intention of further strengthening ties between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Guyana. President Ali had hosted a working lunch for the prince at State House.
The visiting Saudi Arabian Minister had led a delegation that included Counsellor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norah Mohammed Al Bassam; First Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Badr Abdullah Al Muaiqil; Secondary Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Naif Abdulaziz Alnuwaiser and three others.
Also in February, President Ali had held a meeting with another visiting team from Saudi Arabia at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown, following the opening day of the inaugural International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana, which was held in Georgetown.
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, had joined the meeting virtually. The visiting delegation, which was here for the Energy Conference, was led by the Arab nation’s Governor of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Adeeb Al Aama.
There has been an increasing interest in Guyana from Middle Eastern States in recent years following the blooming oil and gas industry. In fact, Saudi Arabian company, Aramco Trading Limited, last year was awarded a one-year contract to lift Guyana’s share of oil from the Stabroek Block after coming out with the best responsive bid during evaluation.
The 12-month deal to market Guyana’s oil runs from September 2021 to August, 2022. Additionally, the company was also awarded a single-lift for last September to avoid the country having to forfeit its one million barrels of crude.
