Guyana: Prez Irfaan Ali meets Pertti Ikonen, Finland’s Ambassador to Caribbean

Guyana: President Dr Irfaan Ali received a courtesy visit from Pertti Ikonen, Finland’s Ambassador to the Caribbean, on October 19, 2022, at State House.

After welcoming the Ambassador to Guyana, President Ali told him that the country is currently going through a period of intense growth.

He said that his Government intends to position Guyana as a top-tier country in a number of areas, including biological, environmental and human resource services; technology and research and development; food security; healthcare; education and renewable energy. These areas, the President added, will be advanced under a Low Carbon Development Strategy.

The President also said Guyana is “very interested” in partnering with “like-minded countries”.

The Ambassador congratulated the President and Guyana on “keeping democratic order” and said Guyana is an excellent global example for respecting democracies.

He also praised President Ali and the Government for its transformative agenda and said that the sectors that Guyana aims to transform are “interesting” to Finland.

Marcia Nadir-Sharma, Director of Projects at the Office of the President, also attended the meeting.

Guyana shares diplomatic relations with a wide range of nations, and these are managed primarily through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The European Union (EU), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have offices in Georgetown. Guyana and Finland have shared diplomatic ties since April 2 1979.