Finance Minister meets with Commonwealth Secretary-General

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni K. Singh today met with visiting Commonwealth Secretary-General
Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC and her delegation at the Finance Ministry where the two officials
discussed cooperation and collaboration in a number of key areas.
Dr. Singh during the meeting, welcomed the Secretary-General and her team to Guyana. He
pointed out that President Irfaan-Ali continues to believe strongly in the Commonwealth’s
relevance and its importance in the current contemporary situation in Commonwealth countries
such as Guyana. “Even when we were in Government (before) we could recall there were a
number of important pressing global problems whereby the Commonwealth played an integral
role. Our issues in Climate Change was one example but there were other things like the Multi-
dimensional Vulnerability Index.  In particular, the Commonwealth has demonstrated a unique
leadership on Small States issues and that is in particular, a topic that we feel very strongly
about,” the minister said.

The finance minister revealed that there is a long list of areas in which Guyana would have
benefitted through the Commonwealth (in terms of support) with two at the top of the list being
the role the Commonwealth played in supporting Guyana’s fight for its democracy in 2020 and
the issue pertaining to Guyana’s relationship with Venezuela.  The Commonwealth Secretary-
General pointed out that the current period is a new era where small States have a pivotal role to
play with Guyana’s leadership being of particular importance in terms of its current approach to
development as it is not only focused on oil and gas but also on developing other areas (sectors).
Scotland QC stressed that Small States despite possessing only small voices, will be very
powerful especially since the small States have demonstrated graphically the consequences of
Climate Change.  With Guyana being both a part of CARICOM as well as a part of the
Commonwealth, the Commonwealth Secretary-General also noted that the country will be a
major focus of the Commonwealth in terms of its management approaches as this may serve as a
model for other small States.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that other areas discussed (in which both teams can cooperate and
collaborate) included debt-management, good governance and anti-corruption, information
communication technology in terms of digital solutions for effective financial management as
well as the development of upstream petroleum policies.         Scotland QC was was
accompanied by Director and Head of the SG’s Office, Ms. Deborah Jamieson; Senior Director,
Governance and Peace Directorate, Professor Luis Franceschi, Assistant Research Officer of the
SG’s Office, Mr. Francis Wanjiku and Assistant Research Officer of the Governance and Peace
Directorate, Ms. Fayola Fraser.