Guyana’s investment climate remains “very good” – Foreign Minister

The recent toppling of the Nicolás Maduro regime in neighbouring Venezuela has not impacted the investment climate in Guyana, according to Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd. Instead, he declared that Guyana continues to be an attractive destination for foreign investments. “I don’t recall that investors were worried. I have not seen the indicators on that. But what I know is that Guyana is a very attractive destination for investment, and you’ve seen all of the evidence of that most recently. The President has been opening hotels for the last four to five weeks and a lot of these investments are foreign direct investments.” “So, I think the investment climate in Guyana is very good. Exxon and the operators are here. We’re carrying on with our business of governing this country,” Minister Told recently told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Georgetown, where he was asked whether investors were concerned about the recent developments in the neighbouring Spanish-speaking nation. For decades, Venezuela has deployed a number of aggressive tactics against Guyana, including – as recently as last year, as it continues to lay spurious claims to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass – the entire Essequibo region and a portion of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), where successful oil operations are ongoing offshore by United States (US)-based oil giant ExxonMobil and its partners.
On January 3, however, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife were captured in Caracas by the US military and taken to New York, where they have been indicted on several charges. Nevertheless, with the toppling of the Maduro regime, it is anticipated that the aggression from Venezuela will wane – something which the Government of Guyana welcomes. “The President has spoken extensively on ensuring that we protect the people of Guyana, to ensure our resources are protected and to ensure that everyone can go to bed at night feeling safe, knowing that they can get up the next day and go to work and go about their business. And I think we’ve achieved that. We want to maintain that,” Todd posited. He went on to add that, “The President is actively engaged with his international partners or with our international partners, so that you can rest assured that he will explore every option available to ensure that Guyana and the people of this country are safe.”
International Court of Justice
Back in March 2018, Guyana had approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking a final and binding settlement of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the boundaries with Venezuela. That matter is still pending before the World Court, but Guyana is confident of a favourable judgment sometime later this year. In fact, Minister Todd said the recent developments in Caracas are not likely to cause any delays in the case. “You’ve seen the performance of the legal team over the last several years. And I think you are confident also in the team, as we are confident. I think we have a very strong team and we are very focused. But of course, we have to remain cautious. But we are very confident that we will have a ruling in our favour,” Todd stressed. Moreover, one of Guyana’s agents in the ICJ case, Carl Greenidge, believes that the latest developments in Venezuela could see a reduction in military aggression against Guyana. “The change in the relationship between Venezuela and the US in the immediate future is likely to put on hold Venezuela’s military ambitions towards Guyana because I don’t think they’ll be in a position to realise that,” Greenidge, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, recently told local news agency OilNOW. Currently, Guyana’s legal team is awaiting a date for oral arguments to be heard on the merits of the case before the ICJ deliberates on its final judgement, which will be binding on the two countries.