http://www.caribbeannewsnow.co...to-Kuwait-31278.html
By Ray Chickrie
Caribbean News Now contributor
GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- Guyana this week named Professor Dr Shamir Ally as its next resident ambassador to Kuwait. The Guyana embassy in Kuwait has been without an ambassador for over two years now, with Sarfaraz Shadood heading the embassy since former ambassador Dr Odeen Ishmael retired.
Ally was among a group of newly appointed ambassadors that Guyana will deploy to several corners of the world.
The government held a one week orientation workshop for newly appointed diplomats. The workshop emphasized economic diplomacy and protection of Guyana’s territorial sovereignty amidst threats from its neighbour Venezuela and especially after the recent discovery of major “world class” oil and gas reserves off the coast of Guyana.
The workshop was put on by the ministry of foreign affairs of Guyana under the leadership of the foreign minister and vice-president, Carl Greenidge, and the director of the ministry of foreign affairs, Audrey Waddell. Greenidge has overhauled the ministry in an effort to bolster professionalism, efficiency and expertise in diplomacy.
“This enables us to capitalize on the experiences that have been accumulated in the past in terms of policy formulation and the like and, therefore, that institutional mechanism I hope is going to help to see us through the re-establishment of what clearly was widely acknowledged as one of the most effective, if not outstanding, foreign services in the Western Hemisphere,” Greenidge said.
Ally is the CEO of International Consulting Services and deputy chairman of GO-Invest, a Guyana government investment agency. He was also a Corporate controller, chief accounting officer, vice-president of finance, and chief financial officer at AMEX, NYSE, and NASDAQ. At William Loveland College, he was professor for Bachelors, MBA, PhD and EdD programs. Ally was also visiting professor at Qatar University, Romanian American University and the University of Guyana.
Mrs Maryann Ally holds a degree in education from George Washington University and an MBA from the University of Portland. Dr Maryann worked for 25 years at Merck Pharmaceuticals as global marketing director.
The Kuwait mission is expected to once again be an active post since it handles bilateral relations with Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait. The previous ambassador, Dr Ishmael, was also named Guyana’s ambassador to Qatar.
In addition, the Kuwait mission will handle a great deal of the multilateral ties with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). Moreover, Guyana is soon to be an oil producer after a recent discovery and this will attract the attention of the Arab oil kingdoms of the Persian Gulf.
To be cost efficient, the Kuwait desk will be inundated with these matters. Many small meetings that take place in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) must be attended for Guyana to consolidate and see economic benefits from its OIC and Islamic Bank membership.
Ishmael said that Guyana did not attend many of these small meetings nor did Guyana address its position or policies in writing.
“Many of the small meetings are specialized one. These deal with the details and countries seize the opportunities at these meetings to put forward their positions on the issues and to make sure that their countries are included in special projects. When you are absent, you lose out unless you indicate in writing to the secretariat your interest or have another attending country speak on your behalf,” Ishmael said.
Ishmael recommends that the new ambassador, through the embassy in Kuwait, maintains a regular line of communication with the OIC, and especially with at least one specific official in the body.
The former Guyanese diplomat, who spent a great deal of time at the OIC representing Guyana, maintained close contacts with OIC officials and one assistant secretary-general – a Pakistani ambassador. In fact, Guyana lobbied in support of getting the Pakistani ambassador elected to that office. This relationship allowed Ishmael another opportunity to get Guyana’s voice to reach the desk of the secretary general in a timely manner.
Either the president of Guyana, David Granger, or Greenidge will travel to Kuwait to formally open the Guyana mission there. The visit will most likely also include the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar. Greenidge himself may lead the Guyana delegation to the next OIC foreign ministers meeting to be held in Uzbekistan from October 18-19.
