Guyana and Jamaica sign MoUs to deepen strategic partnership

Guyana and Jamaica signed several Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) at the State House in Georgetown on June 26, Friday. Both the countries took a step forward to strengthen bilateral ties and deepen strategic partnership. The nations are going to cooperate and collaborate on various fronts for development like agriculture, finance, security, housing, technology, and climate resilience.

The MoUs were signed by Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd and Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kamina Elizabeth Johnson Smith.

Among the many agreements signed by the ministers was an MoU on bilateral Cooperation in Agriculture, which aims to strengthen food and nutrition security.

This agreement will establish partnership between the two countries which would enable them to collaborate on institutional development, human resource training, innovation, education, and trade facilitation. It would also provide support for CARICOM’s ‘25 by 2025 plus five’ initiative that focuses on reducing the region’s food import bill.

Additionally, Jamaica and Guyana also signed an MoU on defence and security cooperation, this would enable the countries to collaborate on national security matters like building the security capacity and enhancing regional stability.

Another major agreement focused on financial services, through this agreement both the countries will focus on enhancing the financial systems of the region.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness paid an official visit to sign the agreements on Friday.

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali described the visit as more than a state engagement. He said that it was an intensive working visit that focused on identifying solutions to shared problems.

The president revealed that additional agreements can be expected as the relationship between the two countries deepens.

Talking about the enhancement of the energy sector of both the nations, President Ali said that an official team will be established. This working group would focus on identifying opportunities on collaboration that would benefit the region collectively.

He also underscored that Guyana tends to learn from Jamaica’s experience as he said that Jamaica has been enhancing its tourism sector actively and it has benefitted the country significantly. Guyana would also now start focusing on its tourism sector and enhance orange economy sectors.

The president mentioned opportunities in housing. He said that the local banks have already expressed interest in forming partnerships with Guyanese and Jamaican developers.

The officials also discussed various other collaborative development initiatives in Security and technology including cybersecurity, training, data sovereignty and defence education through Guyana’s National Defence Institute.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, PM Holness said that the discussions between the two sides extended beyond the signed agreements. He asserted that the countries are expected to collaborate in various sectors like energy, tourism, housing, and public sector modernisation.

He noted that Guyana and Jamaica share similar views on global developments and they aim to collaboratively improve governance and economic competitiveness.