New USAID rep behind Guyana’s regional push

The newly appointed Regional Representative for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mr. Mervyn Farroe, has assured support for Guyana’s push for the CARICOM region to address key challenges including food security, climate resilience and financing for small businesses.

During a recent meeting with Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud, the new Regional Representative discussed the Agency’s work in Guyana under the new leadership.

In the engagement, Mr. Persaud spoke to the importance of USAID as a key development partner for Guyana. He detailed Guyana’s interest in getting more U.S. businesses involved in the country’s development especially in key sectors such as tourism and agriculture.

The Foreign Secretary also encouraged greater consultation with the Government particularly as it relates to partisan issues in order to allow for more accurate presentation of information with diverse viewpoints.

Greater coordination between Government and USAID, he relayed, can also result in better identification and addressing of gaps in funding and skills especially in underserved regions and communities.

Mr. Farroe updated the Foreign Secretary on the work of the Agency around initiatives such as Local Government capacity building, the Economic Development Accelerator for local agro-processing companies, and Youth development programmes among others.