PSC lauds President Ali for focusing on Private Sector development during US visit

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) has commended President Dr Irfaan Ali for placing emphasis on Private Sector development during his visit to the United States, where he has been engaging in several high-level meetings with US officials in Washington DC.

In a statement on Friday, the PSC lauded the Head of State for focusing attention in his meeting with the US Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Don Graves, on Private Sector development in Guyana.
“The Private Sector is pleased to note that the US Deputy Secretary of Commerce, in his meeting with President Ali, pledged support for, and committed to working with, Guyana in the areas of banking, finance and tourism, as well as facilitating US Private Sector investment in Guyana,” the Commission said in the missive.
President Ali and Deputy Secretary Graves met on Monday, and had fruitful discussions. While the US official committed support to the Government of Guyana in a number of areas, the Head of State also committed to working closely with the Department of Commerce and other US agencies to facilitate US Private Sector investment in Guyana.
“We have been discussing many matters of mutual interest, and areas which we can strengthen and expand our relationship. The goal of this week is to bring harmonisation between the plans and programmes of Guyana and the aspirations of the US, both at the Government and Private Sector level. We cannot have a partnership unless the two countries have a fulsome understanding of the developmental priorities, challenges and opportunities,” President Ali had stated.
Meanwhile, the PSC, in its statement, also said it is particularly encouraged by the agreement entered into by the Guyana Government with the US EXIM Bank to facilitate financing, including direct loans and medium and long term guarantees for financing US exports for the Government of Guyana’s development projects.
“The Private Sector Commission stands ready to utilise this financing for its participation in our country’s project development in partnership with the US Private Sector,” the PSC stated.
On Wednesday, a $2 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Guyana and the US EXIM Bank, and according to the Guyanese Leader, this funding will go a long way towards aiding Guyana to be a leader in the areas of climate change and food security.
“The areas that were identified shows the broad, multi-faceted nature of the leadership of EXIM Bank. Anyone looking out on Guyana now narrowly focus on oil and gas at their own detriment, because the country has significant other distinct advantages in becoming the leader on climate change and environmental and biodiversity services for food security and agriculture — critical infrastructural links that can unlock tremendous potential for the vast array of natural resources we have,” the President had stated.
President Ali led a team of Government officials to the US Capital this week, and has been engaging senior US Leaders on collaboration in a number of areas, including climate change, environment, sustainable development, food security, energy, and a host of others.
Accompanying the Head of State on this visit are: Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd, and Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud. They are joined by Guyana’s Ambassador to the US, Samuel Hinds, and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Guyana Embassy in Washington, Zulfikar Ally, during these meetings.
Over the past week, President Ali has been meeting with top US officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to advance bilateral relations between the two countries.
During Wednesday’s teleconference with VP Harris, the discussions held were beneficial, not only to the two countries, but to the entire Caribbean Community (Caricom) region.
“This conversation with the Vice President and President started at the Summit of the Americas. It has advanced rapidly. So, I will say that our conversation today was refreshing. It was beneficial both to Guyana and the US and Caricom. It confronted the big issues, it was very frank and open, very respectful; and it outlines the vision and supports the vision that I’ve been talking about,” President Ali said about his discourse with the US Vice President.
In a social media post after the engagement, VP Harris said discussions were held on cooperation in the areas of energy and food security, among other issues.