Address by His Excellency Ebu Rohno Jones, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Suriname to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, on the occasion of Presenting Letter of Credence

Your excellency, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, H.E. David Granger.

It is my distinct pleasure that I present to Your Excellency my letter of Credence by which His Excellency Desiré Delano Bouterse, President of the Republic of Suriname appoints me Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Suriname to the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.

The Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Suriname and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana dates back to November 1975. The collaboration between our two countries entered into a new phase in 2010, when H.E. President Desiré Delano’ Bouterse entered into office.

It is worth mentioning that the first foreign visit of President Bouterse, shortly after taking office was made to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. It is also of crucial importance to highlight, that the bilateral meetings between the two Heads of State, resulted in the revitalization of the Cooperation Council consisting of representatives from both countries.

Our countries share various similarities, such as: both have equally experienced the disastrous effects of colonialism in all its forms and experience similar challenges in the struggle to achieve sustainable development for their Peoples. Nevertheless, so far Suriname and Guyana were able to sustain and develop their economy through hard work, determination and strong belief in each others abilities.

The Surinamese Government, acknowledges the potential of both countries. With a decisive and collaborative policies towards its neighbors and adjacent countries, Suriname is convinced that when our countries pull together even closer, the already established development efforts and achievements can be accelerated.

The cooperation between our countries, given the diverse and regional nature of it, is of strategic importance for the development objectives of our nations. The Government of Suriname believes that the main focus of cooperation should be placed on achieving sustainability in the pursuit of development for our countries and peoples.

It is therefore important and necessary that the atmosphere of peace, togetherness and friendship is being sustained. Strategic, emphasis should be placed on what binds us rather than what devides us. This should be the driving force to further intensify our relationship based on mutual respect, understanding, cooperation, good neighborliness and mutual benefit.

In light of cooperation for the realization of sustainable development of our countries, the Administration under the Leadership of H.E. Desiré Delano Bouterse is convinced that there is even more potential for cooperation in the sustainable use of our natural resources, as well as exploring the environmental, tourism and agriculture opportunities both countries have to offer.

In addition Suriname also looks forward towards deepening the cultural relationship and intensifying economic trading activities. With reference to the cultural integration there is a large group of Guyanese Diaspora living for decades in Suriname and is contributing to the economic development. On the other hand, many Surinamese have family ties with Guyana and cross-border travel between both countries is increasing substantially.

The Republic of Suriname with 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry is willing to share this knowledge with the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and, if necessary, to support the further development thereof.

The border issue is one of the important challenges, where we as sovereign nations should find a sustainable solution for. Bilateral agreements have already been concluded which both countries should adhere to. I can assure you that the Surinamese Government will continue to maintain the conditions of peace and friendship in this process.

Your Excellency, finally, as the most forested country in the world, with a multi-cultural society, living peacefully together Suriname is ready to address the development challenges that both nations face.

In furtherance of my inauguration, the mandate that I’ve received from the President, is to extort all efforts to ensure that our bilatral relations are being taken to greater heights, as well as the improvement of the communication between the two countries.

I want to reiterate that we should strongly focus on what binds us, since Suriname and Guyana as two small developing nations do not have any other choice than to collaborate in order to tackle cross-border crime and various international and regional problems, such as climate change and non communicable diseases.