Guyana can tap into India’s hospitality, healthcare expertise – High Commissioner

…says long-standing capacity-building cooperation is ongoing

As Guyana continues to build out key economic sectors, India is offering its vast expertise in areas such as hospitality and healthcare to fill vacancies while simultaneously helping to build local capacity.

During a recent interview with the Guyana Times, Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr Amit Telang, explained that his country wants to play a significant role in the current exponential growth that Guyana is undergoing.
In fact, he pointed out that India has vast expertise and skills in many of the industries that Guyana is now building out.
“The hospitality industry, I think, also happens to be one of them because you are going to have some of the new hotels coming up. I think there’s a lot of emphasis in terms of the development of tourism and other areas. So, I think there would be a requirement [for skilled personnel], and we’ll be happy to assist,” the Indian diplomat noted.
Already, some major Indian companies are eyeing the dozen new hotels being constructed here with the intention of providing managerial services, the High Commissioner disclosed.
He said, “…some of our companies are looking at the possibility [of] whether they would like to collaborate in operating one of the new hotels, which is coming up… [And in] the services sector, we see a lot of Indian companies interested there.”
Guyana has already turned to India for personnel to fill gaps within the local healthcare sector, especially with demand created following the recent construction of six new regional hospitals across the country.
Only back in July, a New Delhi-based recruitment firm – Ansari Manpower Overseas Consultant – published an advertisement inviting male and female nurses in India to work at Government hospitals in Guyana.
President Dr Irfaan Ali has already made it clear that he would not be accepting any excuses when it comes to fully staffing the new hospitals and other medical facilities that are being built out across the country. Noting that the human resources gaps in the medical field need to be fixed in the short term as Guyana builds its own cohort of healthcare professionals, the Head of State instructed the Health Ministry to seek the needed skills from overseas.

Supplying skilled manpower
According to the Indian diplomat, his country is ready to supply the skilled technical personnel needed for the local health sector, from technicians and nurses to doctors.
“So as and when there is a requirement, I think the Government of Guyana, through the High Commission in Delhi, is also looking at the possibility of getting skilled manpower,” Dr Telang stated.
In fact, the High Commissioner disclosed to this publication that there is already an increasing number of Indian healthcare workers in Guyana.
“We are aware of this because we have noticed that in terms of the Indians who are coming to us to avail of the consular services, like renewing their passports and other things, attestation of documents. So, we have definitely seen over the last couple of months that the number of people who are coming from India has increased. And most of them, I think, are in the disciplines like healthcare… So, that’s how we gauge that these are the areas in which there is a requirement, and more and more people, the skilled personnel from India, are coming,” the diplomat explained.
Moreover, he went on to note that one of India’s top healthcare providers, the Apollo Hospitals Group, which operates a large chain of hospitals back in India, has been in discussions with the Guyana Government on the possibility of being part of one of the new hospitals recently built here.
“So, they are discussing these modalities as to how they can do that,” the Indian diplomat informed this newspaper.
Only back in April, a delegation from the Apollo Hospitals Group was in Guyana for high-level discussions aimed at exploring strategic healthcare partnerships with the local health sectors. Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony had expressed his Ministry’s eagerness to deepen bilateral engagement with the group as part of Guyana’s ongoing efforts to enhance healthcare delivery and medical expertise across the country.
That visit had set the stage for enhanced cooperation in specialised medical training, clinical services, and institutional development between the two countries.
Only last November, during the historic visit of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to Guyana, the two countries signed several cooperation agreements in the healthcare sector.

Capacity-building cooperation
Meanwhile, capacity-building cooperation between the two countries remains strong, as the Indian Government is also assisting Guyana in developing its local capacity.
“Every year, I would say, close to around 100 people from Guyana go to India for various capacity-building projects.  Some of these training courses are also done in a way that experts travel from India, and they impart training here.  And some of these areas are new areas, taking into consideration the requirement projected by the Government of Guyana,” he asserted.
Among those new areas of cooperation are training in forensic science and space cooperation, as well as disaster management and maritime support.
Only earlier this month, the Indian diplomat had a meeting with the newly appointed Minister for Public Services, Government Efficiency and Implementation, Zulfikar Ally, during which they discussed the long-standing capacity-building cooperation between the two nations under the flagship Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme and the possibility of further diversifying this initiative.
“So, we are in the process of also looking at the possibility of training programmes for the civil services and other Government employees for their skill upgradation, providing them [with training on the] digital format for providing faster and efficient service delivery. So, some of these areas, I think they are emerging as attractive areas, which are of interest also to the Government of Guyana,” High Commissioner Telang stated.
Just before the 2025 elections, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo had explained that Government Ministries and agencies could be reorganised to ensure better efficiency in public service delivery.