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- Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo Innaugurates the Convention, PIO Delegates from 18 Countries Participate

Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) formed at the First Global Convention of People of Indian Origin in August 1989 celebrated its 10th anniversary with Global Convention '99 on September 24-26th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in New York city. The convention was inaugurated on September 24 evening with keynote address by Bharrat Jagdeo, President of the South American nation Guyana. Yesu Persand, GOPIO's Regional Vice President and the Chairman of Guyana Airlines introduced President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo as the youngest in the world at 35. At 13, he joined the people progressive movement. Since then he has only risen to higher and higher positions in politics and now the president.

President Jagdeo in his address invited PIOs to come and explore opportunities at Guyana for investment. Being rich in resources, he encouraged investors to come forth in an effort to benefit mutually. He further talked about working togther and building up on the principles of Late Dr. Cheddi Jagan, former president of Guyana. "We must work towards a society of peace and harmony," Jagdeo said. To emphasize he said, "the only alternative to co-existence is co-destruction." He further mentioned his plans for forming a business summit whereby he would encourage private entrepreneurs to come forward and work with him to build an incentive scheme to encourage foreign investment in Guyana.

Consul General of India in New York Shashi Tripathi in her inaugural speech gave credit to GOPIO to launch this initiative to organize this "getting together" to share knowledge, blood, and history. She mentioned that Indians have risen to the top in all areas because of their hard work and determination. She talked about how Indians are excelling in the IT field. Thipathi also gave special credit to GOPIO for strengthening bilateral relation between India and other countries.

Greg Meeks, US Congressman from Queens applauded President Jagdeo for addressing a global society and emphasized his point that if we don’t live together, we will die separately. He also informed people about Census 2000 and emphasized that if people are not counted properly, then resources do not get distributed equitably.

GOPIO President Dr. Thomas Abraham welcomed delegates who represented eighteen countries. Abraham said that two of the 1989 convention delegates, the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Mr. Basudeo Panday came to power through elections. GOPIO had filed a petition on human rights violation of Indian people in Fiji to the U.N. in 1991.
"We are proud that an Indian dominated party in Fiji recently won the election and Mr. Mahendra Chaudhry has now become the Prime Minister of Fiji.," abraham added. Abraham also aid that GOPIO had proposed the PIO card in 1994 and that the Govt. of India has come forward with a PIO card now. However, Abraham said that the fee for PIO card should be a third of what is charged today.

Following the Friday inauguration, six conference sessions were organized on Saturday along with a youth conference. The conference theme speaker was Prof. Brinsley Samaroo of the University of West Indies in Trinidad. The conference theme was "PIO Forging a Global Alliance." The conference was charied by Prof. Mahine Gosine pf SUNY Suffolk College.

Saturday evening banquet was addressed by India's Deputy Ambassador T. P. Srinivasan. He congratulated GOPIO President Thomas Abraham for his vision to start GOPIO. Ambassador Srinivasan credited GOPIO for being the initiator and driver for the issuance of the PIO card, in lieu of dual citizenship.

The keynote address at the banquet was delivered by Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Minister of Legal Affairs, Govt. of Trinidad & Tobago, who paid tribute to GOPIO. She said, "For us in the Indian Diaspora - as we approach the new millennium - its the end of the age of Kali ! Its now time to undertake a new direction - as persons of the human race. Last century, we witnessed wonders of a scientific, technological revolution. Still many are living a life of poverty and degradation. There is no doubt that majority of our brothers and sisters still live in poverty. Therefore, if we are to fulfill our role as members of a responsible society, it is (imperative) that we improve the lot of our brothers and sisters as we approach the 3rd millennium !". She stressed that no matter where we go, we
are first in our "hearts, minds and souls - People of Indian Origin".

The third speaker, Honorable Amaraiya Naidu, Deputy Ambassador, Fiji Mission to the U.N. said, "My father was totally illiterate when he left India for Fiji - and I became the Minister of Education !" He pointed that that was an example of the kind of investments PIOs made to improve and enhance their contributions to teh world. He referred to the qualities of patience, dedication and nonviolence that PIOs exhibited during the 1987 coup in Fiji, that eventually "won them a place in the heart of their new homeland". He continued, "This is the tribute we pay to the PIOs who left India and made an investment in education! We are here today because of the investment our parents made in our education." He repeated that there is no substitute, as we migrate out of India for education and preservation of our identity.

The final speaker, Honorable Nimisha Madhwani, First Secretary, Ugandan Embassy, invited PIOs to consider Uganda as a good destination for investment. The banquet speaker session ended with Dr. Praveen Chopra recognizing all the sponsors and grand patrons of this event, ACS Telcom, Sabinsa Corp. and Radha Krishnan of Detroit, Michigan. The corporate sponsors were Air India and State Bank of India.

The convention had a closing ceremony at which Muaritius Ambassador Anand Neewoor spoke on the opportunities for PIOs to invest and start business in Mauritius.