Team to assess feasibility of Guyana-Venezuela road link
Stabroek News
August 2, 2002
A technical team is expected to visit Guyana shortly to assess the feasibility of a road link with Venezuela and South American leaders at a recent summit stressed the need for greater physical integration of their countries.
The Second Meeting of Presidents of South America held on July 26-27 examined the possibility of road link between Guyana and Venezuela and noted a commitment by the two countries to set up a technical committee to look at a direct connection via a highway.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Rudy Insanally, attended the meeting held in Ecuador and reported that the concept of Guyana being the gateway to the south has captured the interest of South American leaders.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) reported on Wednesday that Insanally stated that one of the primary concerns of the meeting was linking the South American countries through trade and infrastructure, especially road networks linking Uruguay, Bolivia, and other countries on the southern coast.
According to Insanally, the South American Presidents were enthusiastic and supported the idea of Guyana being the link between South America and the rest of the world. The existing link between Guyana and Brazil and the possible road to Venezuela were considered.
He said the technical team is expected to visit Guyana to conduct a feasibility study on the establishment of the Venezuelan link. The proposed highway “would complement the connection already provided for in the Brazil-Guyana-Suriname-Venezuela axis”, GINA said.
Sharing his impression on the level of commitment demonstrated at the meeting, the minister said all the heads were supportive of closer regional integration.
“The mood now seems to be one of intensifying the integration efforts so as to allow the hemisphere to position itself globally,” GINA quoted Insanally as saying.
A communique issued at the end of the meeting noted the Presidents’ belief that “The physical integration of the South American space will optimise the region’s huge economic potential and its ability to compete by adding value to its natural resources.”
In September 2000, the Presidents of South America developed an initiative for regional infrastructure integration and in December of the same year agreed on the implementation of a plan of action based on the same initiative.
The plan identified 162 transportation, energy, and telecommunications projects aimed at strengthening infrastructural links on the continent.