Georgetown: The Government of Guyana, within the coming days, will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and a Framework Agreement with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for mutual cooperation in a number of areas.
This was announced by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, during a recent press conference.
In light of the recent misinterpretations in sections of the media, the minister clarified that MOUs, are statements of intent, which deal with general principles and understanding that the countries will collaborate on general trade matters or to establish a platform on which cooperation will be undertaken.
“The MOU itself is usually followed by more concrete arrangements between the relevant sectors, it is not by itself a binding instrument,” he stated.
Minister Greenidge said the MOU and Framework Agreement that will be signed are no different from any other, reminding that under the previous government an MOU was signed with Trinidad in 1999.
“It was a ten-year MOU, it was signed and no riot occurred, no sector was destroyed, there was no apocalypse and I am sure this will not happen on this occasion either and the same thing applies to the MOU in relation to the Belt and Road Project,” Minister Greenidge added.
In response to a question posed by the media, Minister Greenidge said the agreement between Trinidad and Venezuela, which has laid claims to Guyana’s territory, has no implications for Guyana, boundary-wise.
The location of Venezuela’s Dragon oil Field and Trinidad’s Hibiscus Field, which form the subject of the agreement between those two countries, Minister Greenidge pointed out, “lies well north of any areas that have been the subject of any controversy.”
Notwithstanding the relationship between Trinidad and Venezuela, commercial and otherwise, the minister does not believe this will hinder Guyana’s relation with Trinidad.
Further, Minister Greenidge said the magnitude of resources Guyana possesses is enough to satisfy the commercial interest of all its neighbours and potential partners.
He expressed that “you [Guyana] have enough in terms of volume, in terms of the range of resources so that means we have the opportunity for collaborating with others without somehow being constrained.”
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