Increased collaboration needed among regional investment agencies – Ramsaroop

– as Guyana’s Investment Chief elected CAIPA President

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) Dr Peter Ramsaroop was recently elected President of the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) and has, emphasised the need for the respective regional investment agencies to work together.

Ramsaroop was elected during CAIPA’s recent Annual General Meeting (AGM), which saw the end of Grenada’s Investment Development Corporation Head, Ronald Theodore’s tenure as CAIPA President.
Ramsaroop, who was elected in his stead, stated that a key objective of his term in office will be to foster closer collaboration with fellow investment agency CEOs across the region.
“Our focus this term will remain on aligning CAIPA initiatives more closely with CARICOM objectives. As the Region emphasises sustainable investment in climate resilience, energy, and agricultural security, we will prioritise both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and local investments to foster and enhance prosperity across all member nations.”
“Success will be measured by our ability to create synergies between key sectors such as tourism, manufacturing, blue economy, agriculture, ICT (Information and Communications Technology), and other strategic industries. This will be a major objective of my term in office, working in close collaboration with fellow Board Members and every Investment Agency within the Region,” Ramsaroop explained.
During the AGM, the CAIPA also elected a new Board of Directors. They include the CEO of Invest Barbados, Kaye-Ann Greenidge, as 1st Vice President and Acting Director of the St Kitts Investment Promotion Agency Stanley Jacobs, as 2nd Vice President.
Additionally, President of InvesTT in Trinidad and Tobago, Sekou Alleyne; Executive Director of BELTRAIDE in Belize, Ishmael Quiroz; Interim Managing Director of CINEX in Curaçao, Jeanette Bonet and Managing Director, Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), Kendaree Burgess, as Directors One, Two, Three and Four respectively.
Further, Theodore returns to the board as an ex-officio member.
Only in July 2024, Ramsaroop had been calling on investment promotion heads of the world to adopt a united approach to maximise investment opportunities in this part of the hemisphere. He issued the call to regional investment agency heads and their representatives, at the opening of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) Central America and the Caribbean Regional Meeting that was held in the Dominican Republic.
In his presentation titled, “Guyana Case: Investment Possibilities in New Industries,” he had underscored the importance of integration in the region and noted the use of artificial intelligence to create thriving agriculture and tourism sectors.
The local investment chief had also used that opportunity to promote Guyana as an investment hub in the region, pointing out that Guyana is open to green and sustainable investments in tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, energy, ICT, forestry, and efforts to tackle climate change.
With a surge in economic growth in recent years coupled with heavy investments in social development, food, climate, and energy securities, Dr. Ramsaroop had also told the forum that Guyana has emerged as the Jaguar economy in this part of the world.
He had also touched on relations between Guyana and the Dominican Republic. Guyana and the Dominican Republic enjoy cordial bilateral relations. The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1970 but in recent years have ramped up collaborations. In 2023, President Dr Irfaan Ali visited the Dominican Republic, and in the same year, President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, paid a reciprocal visit to Guyana.
In 2023 alone, the two nations signed 10 cooperation agreements. The Dominican Republic has also established an embassy in Guyana, and today the private sectors of the two nations enjoy a stronger bond as they collaborate in tourism, energy, and construction, among other areas.
The Caribbean Association of Investment Promotions Agencies (CAIPA) was launched in 2007 in Jamaica with funding from the European Union (EU) and support from the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA). CAIPA’s membership base consists of 25 Investment Promotion Agencies within 24 Caribbean territories.
Those territories are Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Sint Maarten, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.