Guyana looks to India for help in vaccine manufacturing

…as 2 countries ink MoU to bolster cooperation in health, energy, agriculture

With the aim of becoming a vaccine manufacturing hub in the Caribbean and Latin America (LAC) region, Guyana will be turning to India to capitalise on its vast expertise and resources in this field.

This was revealed by President Dr Irfaan Ali following high-level discussions with Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, who is on a historic three-day state visit to Guyana. On Wednesday, the two leaders along with their receptive government delegations held bilateral talks at the State House in Georgetown aimed at enhancing the already strong relations between Guyana and India.
During the engagement, President Ali and Prime Minister Modi recommitted to strengthening the partnership between the two nations especially in the areas of ICT, defence, agriculture, infrastructure, energy, health and ayurveda and wellness, and human resources and capacity building.
Moreover, several bilateral agreements were also signed in the fields of hydrocarbons, health, agriculture and technology. Further collaborations on infrastructure, education, human capital development and defence technology transfer were also discussed – all aimed at further bolstering the bilateral ties of the two nations.
In brief remarks following the bilateral meeting at State House, President Ali explained that while collaborations between the two countries already exist in many of these areas, Indian has agreed on further expand cooperation with Guyana including in the health sector.
On this note, the Guyanese Head of State lauded India as a “giant” in vaccine manufacturing – something which Guyana is looking to tap into as it builds local capacity.
“As you know, we 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,” President Ali stated.
As part of efforts to make Guyana a medical hub in this region, President Ali had first disclosed plans back in 2022 to build a vaccine factory here. Earlier this year, the Guyanese Leader reiterated this vision, stating that his government is serious about building local capacity to manufacture of vaccines.
“We are very serious about the establishment of a vaccine manufacturing facility in Guyana, to service the entire LAC [Latin America and the Caribbean] region,” the Head of State had noted during the commissioning of a state-of-the-art telepathology lab at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) back in February.
At the time, the president indicated that Guyana reach been engaging different global partners including the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK), and even Cuba on vaccine development and research. Those discussions, Ali had said, signalled his government’s seriousness towards having a vaccine manufacturing plant and a modern health system.

Health
On Wednesday, Guyana’s Health Ministry signed a bilateral agreement with the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) that will see cooperation on laws and regulations related to medical products as well as in the area of medical products. Another MoU was also inked for cooperation with the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission in medicine regulation and promoting the development of affordable generic medicines, strengthen public health capabilities, and align regulatory frameworks for mutual benefit.
In fact, Prime Minister Modi, during his remarks on Wednesday at the State House, highlighted that India is an important source of pharma products for Guyana. He also announced that his government will work on building a Jan Aushadhi Kendra in Guyana.
According to a Government of India portal, Jan Aushadhi is an initiative of Department of Pharmaceuticals to provides ensure quality medicines and health care at affordable cost.

Agriculture
On agriculture, a MoU was signed to promote collaboration between Guyana and India in agriculture through joint activities, exchange of expertise, and capacity building. It focuses on agricultural crops, climate-resilient practices, value-added products, and advanced technologies, emphasizing a mutual commitment to food security and agricultural innovation.

“In food security, India’s support in advancing our rice industry through technology, innovation and research. India has also committed to supporting us in our 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-soya [cultivation] and looking at wheat farming and production here in Guyana, food processing. And important to all of this is research and development. [With] the use of technology and innovation in agriculture, India has distinguished itself among all other global competitors in this area, and we also will be benefiting from this,” President Ali pointed out.

Technology
Moreover, the agreements inked on Wednesday will also see Guyana also benefitting from capacity building and technology transfer from India.
“The innovation, digitization, technology transfer, those are key elements of what we are going to work on. The transfer of technology, the rolling out of our own 2030 digitization plan to improve governance, efficiency, reliability, the advancement in our healthcare system focusing on telemedicine, those are also areas that are key to India’s development in which they have mastered the art of providing these services, and we will be a beneficiary of those services,” the Guyanese Leader added.
The MoUs signed between Guyana and India caters for the sharing of successful digital solutions implemented at population scale for digital transformation as well as for enabling the deployment of Unified Payment Interface (UPI)-like-real-time payment system in Guyana.
According to the Guyanese Head of State, Guyana and India will also enhance the long-shared rich cultural heritage.
This was reiterated by Prime Minister Modi, who spoke about strong people-to-people ties Guyana and India share. In fact, he announced that the two nations have agreed to a cultural exchange agreement (2024-2027) that will further strengthen those people-to-people ties.
“The people who arrived in Guyana from India 180 years ago, laid the foundation for our relations. Today, the Indian community in Guyana is making a very important contribution to [Guyana’s] development. President Irfaan Ali, himself, is a great brand ambassador of the Indian community. This is a matter of great pride for me and for 1.4 billion Indians. The fervor with which the Phagwah festival is celebrated in Guyana demonstrates the incredible confluence of cultures of India and Guyana. There are many such examples that can be seen all across Guyana,” a live English translation of PM Modi’s address, which was done in Hindi, stated.
Meanwhile, to advance these commitments made by President Ali and Prime Minister Modi, a working group has been established to ensure that the bottlenecks and systemic hindrances will be removed in order accomplish these cooperation agreements.