President David Granger has accepted an invitation to participate in the upcoming Arabic Islamic American Summit by His Highness, Salman Bin Abdulaziz, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Summit will be held at the King Abdulaziz Convention Centre in the City of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 21st, 2017 and will see other World Leaders in attendance, including United States President Donald Trump.
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon told reporters today that the world leaders are expected to discuss security partnerships to counter and prevent the growing threat of terrorism and violent extremism around the world.
The participants will also discuss means of promoting tolerance and moderation.
Harmon said while bilateral engagements are likely to take place between President Granger and other world leaders, no specific engagement is planned with Mr. Trump.
“We do not have a specific agenda with respect to meetings with our Head of State and Mr. Trump but what I do know is that the issues in relation to the Islamic Development Bank and the loans and facilities that are available to Guyana will be part of the engagement,” Harmon added.
Harmon was asked whether the Guyana Government was concerned by the slow pace of delivering assistance promised by the Islamic Development Bank, to which he explained that there was a process to accessing the promised assistance.
“I would not say that we are concerned because there are processes which we knew had to be undertaken once we signed onto the bank and became a member so it is not as if we expected things to happen immediately and it didn’t happen,” he noted.
The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is sponsoring President Granger’s air transport to and from Saudi Arabia, hotel accommodation, meals and travels within the Kingdom.
The President’s delegation will include; Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge and Director General within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Audrey Waddle.
