EU delegation expresses trust in President Ali’s Gov’t

The Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali Government has earned the trust of the European Union (EU), Director/ Deputy Management Director for the Americas in the European External Action Service (EEAS), Javier Niño Pérez has said.

The remarks by the official came on Tuesday, during the final disbursement of €7.56 million to Guyana, as budgetary support.

“We trust this country, we trust this government, we clearly believe that there is a world defined strategy to move forward, to work on initiatives like infrastructure development, health, education, inclusivity, the green deal, and we want to be partners of that process,” Pérez stated.

“We do not want to tell Guyana what to do by no means, but we want to share experiences, we want to help and accompany processes and it all comes down as the President said, going a bit beyond traditional cooperation and actually establishing this political partnership which is the key word that we should all have in our mindset from now onwards,” he further added.

EU Ambassador to Guyana Fernando Ponz Cantó supported the comments of Pérez, noting that there is a true partnership between the EU and Guyana.

“The release of the budget support is first of all, a proof of trust. So, what we are saying, is we have a true partnership, and we trust Guyana to manage this money that will go directly to the treasury of Guyana, and it also means you have provided the proof of good management of the finances and proof of realisation of the works that we are paying for today,” the Ambassador said.

The monies received Tuesday, fall under the EU’s budget support programme to Guyana. The funding has over the years assisted Guyana in its transformative agenda in key areas of development, with a large part going towards the development of  sea defence infrastructure.