GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Former United States president . Bill Clinton, Tuesday, urged closer collaboration among the countries in the Americas as he participated in a forum that focused on strengthening partnership and investment opportunities within the region.
Former US president Bill Clinton and Guyana’s President Dr. irfaan Ali at United Caribbean Frum (CMC Photo)Addressing the United Caribbean Forum (UCF), organised by the Dominican Republic Chamber of Commerce in Guyana, Clinton said “I have believed for a long time that the Americas need to work more closely together and that in many ways the smaller countries by population are more successful where economies of scale are not so important as personal contacts and personal responsibilities”.
The 42nd President of the United States acknowledged that while it is hard to raise the capital “to take all the small countries forward together, you have this curious dilemma where in theory the smallest countries can be the most successful at any thing simply because there are more personal contact.”
“But it is hard to get people …to invest,” he said, recalling having worked for “years on a solar project in St. Lucia,” where he described the head of the utility company there “as one of the most progressive guys who wanted desperately to get off diesel and onto solar”.
Clinton said he hopes that this new partnership involving governments, businesses and non-government organisations between the Dominican Republic and Guyana “is the tip of the iceberg that will give new life to CARICCOM (Caribbean Community) and new life to any other organisations that are active here”.
He told the forum that there is now this “amazing opportunity “ to push forward with the several initiatives, adding “remember we are almost always stronger together.
“We are almost always better cooperating than we are fighting and we are almost always better emphasising things that make us feel bigger than trying to make even our adversaries feel small.
“This is a big good thing and I hope we can give life to it after this conference,” Clinton said.
Prior to the conference, the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to Guyana, Ernesto Torres-Pereyra said Clinton had expressed keen interest in attaining first-hand knowledge of the development that is taking place in Guyana.
“You have the possibility here in Guyana of serving the entire world in terms of building a society with sound values, with solid institutions, promoting transparency and you have all the conditions now with this bounty that nature has offered you both with what you had now and with hydrocarbons to really show the world how an experiment can be successful,” Torres- Pereyra said.
Discussion’s at the forum centered on the Caribbean working on development in key areas such as food security and energy. At the forefront of talks also was the investment opportunities, particularly among the private sectors of the two countries.
Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, who said that his country is open to foreign investment,welcomed the presence of Clinton and “some of the values that shaped your identity and shaped your policies.
“Because if policies lack identity and are based in theory (they) will never capture the needs of people,” Ali said,” adding that Guyana is embarking upon developing policies that are attractive to people.
“I say to all my fellow Guyanese every single day, one of the things about prosperity is that it can change your identity and if you allow prosperity to change your identity then we will destroy who we are.
“I say to our citizens including myself that we are known for some unique qualities…
And the whole concept of One Guyana is to create an environment in which economic well-being , social well-being, physical well-being, spiritual well-being…are forged together in ensuring that all Guyanese enjoy the prosperity…
“The journey might be one that seems slow, but if you look at the pace at which we go sometimes we do not focus on the destination. We focus on the destination whilst we try to safely traverse to where we would like Guyana to be, whilst maintaining the identity of who we are as Guyanese,” Ali told the Forum.
