Guyanese urged to create wealth amid economic transformation

– persons shouldn’t depend solely on State – Ambassador Charles

Amid the rapid economic transformation in Guyana, citizens are being urged to create opportunities to acquire wealth and not be fully dependent on the government. This call was made by Guyana’s Ambassador to Venezuela, Dr. Van West Charles during a recent appearance on the Energy Perspectives Podcast.
During his presentation, Dr Charles highlighted several key changes that should be made as the country gears up for another era of development. He highlighted that as industrialization continues, a plethora of new opportunities will be available for Guyanese citizens due to the country’s small population.
“I would hope that in the next five years, we will have a broader and deeper understanding of the industry as a people to benefit from the industry because our numbers are small as a population and so we’ve got to be prepared as the development, as industrialization takes place, that we’re going to have more people coming into the country. We’re going to have different cultures.”
In this regard, Dr. Charles called for citizens to make preparations for the numerous opportunities that will present themselves, rather than being solely dependent on the government to access wealth.
“So, it is for Guyanese to have a degree of preparedness to maximize and create wealth for themselves also and not be singularly dependent on what comes from government. But there is a wide range of opportunities for Guyanese. And I would hope that we can see more Guyanese either through cooperatives or direct investment.”
Moreover, the Ambassador highlighted the importance of democracy, he added that the deepening of democracy must not only be done at the government level but also from the private sector standpoint.
“And deepening our democracy is not singularly at the governmental level. It has to be pervasive in terms of what happens in the private sector, and how they operate their companies democratically. And so, we create a more broadened democratic culture in the country that’s one, the governance aspect.”
Additionally, Charles stressed the importance of the country being independent when it comes to supplying food. He highlighted that whilst stakeholders are pushing for Guyana to become a major food supplier in the Caribbean, we must also similarly ensure that we can provide for ourselves.
“I would hope that the issue of agriculture would blossom in a way that Guyanese understand. We’ve been talking about Guyana as the breadbasket of the Caribbean initially, but we have to make that a reality, both for ourselves and the rest of the region in terms of our productivity in agriculture and not remaining at primary production that agro-processing can intensify and cater for the tourist industry in the Caribbean, our own tourist industry, and that we can export more and develop and use science in a way that will boost our productivity in the area of agriculture and other areas.”