Response by
His Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo
President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana
to the Accreditation Speech
by His Excellency Mr Pierre Monod, Ambassador of Switzerland - November,19th 2001

Excellency, I accept with pleasure the Letters accrediting you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, as well as the Letters of Recall of your predecessor. In so doing, I wish to take the opportunity to extend to you a very warm welcome to Guyana.

I appreciate that many possibilities exist for enhancing the friendly relations which have developed over the years between Guyana and Switzerland. I share your desire for us to explore the several areas through which this objective can be successfully achieved.

One area which you have mentioned is that of investment. My Government continues to promote foreign direct investment as a means of bolstering the economic development of a country. It is in this regard that we would welcome timely consultations on the draft agreement for the promotion and the reciprocal protection of investments which could be finalised between our two countries.

Poverty Reduction, capacity building and creating employment are some of the main pillars of our national development strategy. The Government of Guyana is aiming to involve every Guyanese in its efforts to fulfill these objectives. Whilst this is essentially a national task, may I say however, Excellency, that we are also looking forward to the support of the international community including, friendly Governments, who share our aspirations for sustainable development, economic equity and social justice for people the world over.

Switzerland has proven its true friendship to Guyana in these endeavours particularly through its support for Guyana’s struggle for relief of its debt burden, by the cancellation of the debt owed to the Swiss Export Risk Guarantee Agency. I wish to express my Government’s appreciation for the appreciation for the action taken by your Government in this regard.

It is against this background that I look forward to even greater cooperation and interaction between our Governments and peoples.

I wish to assure you of my Government’s full support in the execution of your mandate and in pursuit of closer relations between Guyana and Switzerland. On behalf of the Government and people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, I would ask that you kindly convey our sincere greetings to the Swiss Federal Council and to the people of Switzerland.