Increased Private Sector investment a sign of confidence in Govt’s vision – Pres Ali

– says Public & Private sector collaboration pushing national development

The increased Private Sector investment in various projects, including in the oil and non-oil sectors, is a sign of the Private Sector’s favour and confidence in the Government’s vision. This is according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali.
During an interview with international news agency Al Jazeera, President Ali spoke about Guyana’s development trajectory. Specifically, he referred to Public and Private Sector investments in various developmental projects.
“The direction in which the economy is going and the direction in which the country is going is supported by Government expenditure to build the infrastructure and build the sectors to open up the sectors,” he said.

“For example, opening up new lands for agriculture requires roads, drainage, and irrigation systems. Helping the loggers and miners requires a lot of investment in hinterland roads. Helping the housing drive that we have, building 25,000 new homes and 50,000 new house lots, requires tremendous investments from the Government,” he said.
In terms of the increased Private Sector investment, President Ali attributed this to the rise of confidence in Government policies. Among the areas that have seen increased investment are health care; housing and education; and, of course, oil and gas.
“But we’re also seeing a lot of private investment that is coming in in all these sectors. And that is because people are seeing the direction in which the country is going; the vision; where we are positioning Guyana. So, we have an investment in healthcare; in housing; private investment in education, educational services; the carbon is traded on international markets; we have a mixture of Government and Private Sector investment pushing this growth and development I’m speaking about,” the President said.

There are a number of multi-billion-dollar projects coming onstream in Guyana, and the Private Sector is the principal driver of those. One such example is the US$300 million Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase, being undertaken by Guyanese consortium NRG Holdings.
In April 2022, ExxonMobil Guyana and the Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase Incorporated (VEHSI) signed a 20-year agreement for shore base services to be provided at the port of Vreed-en-Hoop facility to support the US oil giant’s operations offshore Guyana. The sod was subsequently turned in June of last year within the vicinity of the project site at Plantation Best, West Bank Demerara (WBD).
VEHSI is a joint venture between a fully-owned Guyanese consortium – NRG Holdings Incorporated and Jan De Nul Group, the Belgium-based company undertaking the project that specializes in offshore, marine, civil, environment, and project development.
The consortium includes Hadi’s World Inc, owned by businessmen Nazar “Shell” Mohamed and Azruddin Mohamed, Nicholas Boyer and Eddie Boyer of National Hardware Guyana Limited, and Andron Alphonso of ZRN Investments Inc. NRG holds a majority stake of 85 per cent in VESHI, while the remaining 15 per cent is owned by Jan De Nul – the company that will construct the facility.
There is also the Deepwater Port in Berbice, which is being built by Canadian companies CGX Energy and Frontera Energy. The CGX deep-water harbour project has been in the works since 2010. The CGX subsidiary Grand Canal Industrial Estates Inc (GCIE) has been engaged in civil works related to the construction of the US$130 million Berbice Deepwater Port.
It has been announced that the port was intended to serve as an offshore supply base for the oil and gas industry, and as a multi-purpose terminal cargo handling base to service agricultural import/export, containerized and specialized cargo. CGX said last year, however, that the port’s immediate focus has been shifted to supporting the Government’s infrastructure development.
Initially, it was expected that the offshore oil and gas support shore base would be operationalised by the third quarter of 2022, and the cargo terminal by the end of 2023. In-river construction for the port started only in November.