Ways to strengthen relations between Guyana, Chile and Caricom was high on the agenda when President David Granger met with His Excellency Sebastián Piñera Echenique, President of the Republic of Chile on July 6, 2018. The meeting was held on the margins of the Thirty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of Caricom held in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Following the discussions, the Hon. Carl B. Greenidge, MP, Second Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and H.E. Alfonso Silva Navarro, Ambassador and Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs signed a “Statement of Intent for Cooperation in Mining and Energy between the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Chile”, and a “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the “Andrés Bello” Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chile and the Foreign Service Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana”.
Ambassador and Under Secretary of Chile’s Foreign Affairs, H.E Alfonso Silva Navarro (L) and Guyanese Foreign Affairs Minister Hon. Carl Greenidge (R) sign the agreement while Chilean President H.E. Sebastián Piñera (L) and Guyanese Head of State, H.E. (Ret’d Brig) David Granger (R) look on.
The Statement of Intent provides a framework for the deepening of collaboration between Guyana and Chile by promoting the exchange of experiences and cooperation in the energy and mining sectors.
The MOU seeks to lay the foundations for the Foreign Service Institute and the “Andrés Bello” Diplomatic Academy to maintain regular contact and promote cooperation between them on the basis of mutual benefit and reciprocity to further cooperation on the training of diplomatic officials from Guyana and Chile.
Further, the MOU will be facilitated through the: exchange of experience, academic staff and students; the promotion of study and research and other areas of possible cooperation.
It is expected that the Institutions will cooperate by exchanging information and experience connected with their respective study and research programmes, course, seminars and other academic, educational and training activities as well as exchange information and views on international trends and advances in the field of diplomatic training, study and research, as well as e-learning tools.
Guyana and Chile established diplomatic relations on July 22, 1971.
