PPP/C Government of Guyana would not resist but assist foreign investors

Dear Editor,
His Excellency, Dr Irfaan Ali last Monday reiterated the importance of agriculture and food production, and a Government that is open to doing business.
President Ali said, ”Guyana is open to doing business – it is ready to facilitate growth and development,” moreover, ”the Government is ready to help private investment to ensure a decent return—a country and a market that believe inherently in the participation of the Private Sector’.’
He outlined Guyana’s potential to produce a large portion of the food requirements for Caricom, noting its proximity to one of the most dynamic and robust agricultural sectors by diversification in the world [Brazil] and the under-investment of the sector in realising its full potential.
Agriculture contributes 21.7 percent of Guyana’s non-oil GDP; and in terms of agriculture trade, the country’s export earnings are about US$370 million which primarily comes from rice, fish, sugar, and some amount of non-traditional produce; while the sector contributes to about 12.1 percent of employment.
Guyana now has investment opportunities in rice, sugar, corn, soya, coconut, spices, fruits and vegetables, agro-processing, agrochemical, the livestock sector (poultry, beef, dairy, sheep, and goat) and fisheries – agriculture and shrimp.
Guyana’s productive capacity within Caricom, and our potential is about US$25 million in poultry alone, 90 percent of which is imported.
“Guyana has the potential of satisfying all of Caricom’s food requirement for poultry products, eggs, beef, aquaculture; we have the land, we have the freshwater but what we don’t have is the investment. What we need are the investors who are ready to make the investments into large-scale mega facilities that will support the growth and development of these different sub-sectors. In terms of land availability, in every one of these areas, Guyana has lands that are available. We have freshwater … and we have the critical infrastructure link that will allow you to move your produce from the field to the market and/or the export facility as it is now.”
Our Government of Guyana is heavily focused on developing the aquaculture sector in the short term to service potential markets including Caricom, the US, Mexico, and the EU.
The US, for example, imported over 550,000 metric tons of frozen shrimp and prawns valued at US$4.8 billion.
“Historically, the high cost of electricity has been one of the most inhibiting factors for us to develop our country – right now, all of our electricity is supplied through heavy fuel oil (HFO) however that will change tremendously over the medium to long term. Our PPP/C Government is now developing an energy mix that will include natural gas, solar, wind, and the plan is to have an energy strategy that would create a new energy corridor between Guyana, Brazil and Suriname. So, you will see the cost of energy reducing because of the investment we will be making.”
The world is now attracted to Guyana and is expressing confidence in our economy, new investors and businesses would help to create wealth, generate jobs and job opportunities as our Government continues to facilitate the growth and development of businesses in our regions
I want to assure you our prospective investors that this PPP/C Government of Guyana would not resist but assist foreign investors. The Government is looking at the creation of an “agro-industrial zone” that will have tax incentives and create new opportunities for investment.
Guyana is a safe place to invest and will not put hurdles in the way of potential investors. The time is right for investors to be attracted to Guyana and to capitalise on the opportunities the economy has to offer.

Sincerely,
David Adams