Jamaica and Guyana sign four cooperation agreements in Georgetown

Georgetown, Guyana — Jamaica and Guyana marked a major step in Caribbean partnership on 26 June 2026, signing a protocol and three memoranda of understanding that deepen cooperation across agriculture, defence, financial services and broader economic and technical ties.

Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, signed for Kingston. Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation signed on behalf of Georgetown.

The protocol amends a 1995 agreement on economic, technical and cultural cooperation. It updates the framework to cover energy, defence and security, financial services and capital markets, disaster response and recovery, climate-resilient housing and infrastructure, and science, technology and innovation.

A separate agriculture memorandum aims to strengthen food and nutrition security through a strategic partnership benefiting both states and the wider Caribbean. Priority areas include institutional and human resource development, research and innovation, education and extension, trade facilitation, and advancing the CARICOM 25 by 25 + 5 initiative.

Defence officials from both countries signed a memorandum on security cooperation, setting out capacity building, information exchange, standing arrangements for bilateral talks, and exploration of participation in multinational operations supporting international stability.

A financial services memorandum will promote cooperation on infrastructure and systems, including modernisation of the sector and institutional strengthening. Guyana is moving ahead with a junior stock exchange, and leaders said Jamaica’s mature financial system offers regional lessons.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the ceremony that the signings captured only part of a wider engagement spanning energy, tourism, housing, security and regional diplomacy. He praised arrangements during his visit to Georgetown and Kaieteur Falls, and said Jamaica and Guyana share aligned outlooks on global change and public-sector reform.

Guyana’s president said the roughly 48-hour working visit had built trust for deeper partnership. He cited plans for technical teams to collaborate on governance and technology, an energy working group, tourism and the orange economy, defence and cybersecurity training, housing involving bankers and developers from both countries, and healthcare cooperation.

Holness later addressed food security and skilled labour, noting Jamaica’s unemployment has fallen to 3.6 per cent. He said structured labour mobility within CARICOM could help both countries meet demand as construction and other sectors expand, and urged advance planning so large projects are not held back by shortages of engineers and tradespeople.