Govt. looking to harness India’s expertise to establish regional vaccine hub
Nov 21, 2024
The MOUs being handed over to Guyana’s Ministers, Zulfikar Mustapha (Top Left), Ashni Singh (Top Right), Vickram Bharrat (Bottom Left) and Frank Anthony (Bottom Right). (India’s expertise to establish Regional Vaccine Hub )
By Renay Sambach
Kaieteur News- President Irfaan Ali has announced that as part of one of the agreements signed with India, the Government of Guyana is looking to leverage that country’s expertise to establish a regional vaccine manufacturing hub.
On Wednesday, President Ali and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently on a three-day state visit to Guyana, witnessed the signing of five Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to deepen cooperation across critical sectors.
The agreements, announced during a ceremony at State House in Georgetown, span areas such as hydrocarbons, agriculture, healthcare, and banking technology. President Ali hailed the collaboration as a pivotal step in advancing Guyana’s developmental priorities and regional leadership in key industries.
Guyana and India formalised two MOUs in the healthcare sector. One focuses on collaboration between the Ministry of Health and India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) and India’s Ministry of Health And Family Welfare on medical product regulation. This MoU is aimed at enabling collaboration on good laboratory, clinical, and manufacturing practices. The second recognises the Indian Pharmacopoeia as a standard for quality assurance, and aims to enhance cooperation in medicine regulations, promote the development of affordable genetic medicines, strengthen public health capabilities and align regulatory framework for mutual benefits.
President Irfaan Ali during his address at State House on Wednesday.
In his address, Ali noted, “In healthcare, it’s not only pharma products, but looking at Ayurvedic medicine and looking at ways in which we can expand India excellent global footprint in the healthcare industry here in Guyana.” He continued, “as you know, we are also pursuing having vaccine manufacturing here in Guyana to serve all of the region. India is a giant in this field, and that presents tremendous opportunity for us here in Guyana, and this will be part of the collaboration,” Ali said.
The MOU on agriculture emphasises climate-resilient practices, food security, and agricultural innovation. India will support advancements in Guyana’s rice and sugar industries. President Ali noted that India is committed to supporting Guyana in the sugar industry not only from an infrastructure perspective, but also from a human resource and technical perspective. “They will support us in expanding our corn and soya and looking at wheat farming and production here in Guyana, food processing and important to all of this is research and development.”
President Ali said India has distinguished itself among all other global competitors in this area, “and we also will be benefiting from this,” he added.
Moreover, the hydrocarbon agreement establishes a framework for technology transfer, joint studies, and capacity building across the value chain. This is aimed at bolstering energy security and advancing mutual development priorities.
Additionally, a MOU between the Bank of Guyana (BoG) and NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) was signed. This MoU aims to establish a mutual collaboration on exploring the implementation of Unified Payment Interphase (UPI) technology, as well as facilitating domestic intractability for real time payment in Guyana.
President Ali underscored the broader implications of the agreements, stating, “Our discussions today were not only fruitful, but also reinforced our shared commitment to strengthening bilateral relations and to collaboratively address regional and global concerns.”
Moreover, he highlighted India’s track record in technology and innovation, particularly in agriculture, urban development, and healthcare, and emphasised that these partnerships align with Guyana’s development agenda. “Urban development is important. India, again, has tremendous expertise in urban planning and development, and they will be lending that expertise to Guyana as we seek to advance our own development here,” President Ali added.
Notably, he underscored that defence collaboration with India is also important to Guyana’s economy. “These are areas that India is already collaborating with us on that, we have decided that given the key nature and importance of these areas for Guyana and the regional development, that we will further expand our cooperation in these areas,” Ali noted. President Ali explained too that innovation, digitization, and technology transfer are all areas Guyana will be collaborating with India on. Notably, a joint working group will oversee the implementation of the MOUs, ensuring seamless collaboration.
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