US-Guyana trade exceeded US$4.6B in 2023 – Ambassador Theriot

– President Ali calls for expansion of private sector cooperation between 2 countries

Bilateral ties between Guyana and the United States (US) continue to expand across every facet, especially through trade relations, which have seen yet another year of exponential growth to now be over US$4 billion.
This was revealed by US Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, during a reception held at the Pegasus Hotel and Corporate Suites in Georgetown on Thursday evening to celebrate the 248th Independence Anniversary of the United States of America (USA).
“Our commercial ties are deeper than ever. Just a few years ago, we traded a few hundred million US (dollars’) worth of goods, but last year we surpassed $4.6 billion US. It’s amazing,” Ambassador Theriot posited.
The United States has long been Guyana’s largest trading partner, with accumulated trade of more than US$3.9 billion recorded in 2022. In fact, the US is ranked as Guyana’s number one export and import destination, with export and import relations pegged at some US$2.7 billion and US$1.2 billion respectively in 2022.
Moreover, in July 2023, it was reported that in the previous three years alone, the figure for foreign direct investment from the US in Guyana stood at US$4.2 billion.
Currently, over 100 US-based companies are operating in Guyana, and according to the US Ambassador, this number is growing every day across various sectors in the Guyanese economy.
“Through trade missions, conferences, and exchanges between our private sectors, our companies are unleashing economic growth that supports the employment of thousands, providing a better future for Guyana. And it is occurring in many sectors,” she declared.
“Energy, of course, is a key economic driver, but we see activity in areas of healthcare, education and agriculture. And new US technology is being adopted by Guyanese firms and the Government (in order) to make them more efficient and competitive. I also love seeing all over Georgetown US-branded hotels being constructed, along with US restaurants opening new locations,” the US diplomat stated.
President Dr Irfaan Ali has lauded the vast participation of the US private sector in various local industries, ranging from oil and gas to environment to infrastructure to health to tourism to hospitality and to the services industry. While the Head of State welcomed this participation, he sounded calls for this collaboration to be expanded as Guyana continues to open up new investment opportunities.
“We have a very open economy in which anyone can participate…We have had difficulty in the past in attracting small and medium-size businesses out of the US because we were not a known investment destination. Today we have to do very little lifting in presenting Guyana and the opportunities that are here. And as a result of that, we are seeing a more diversified interest from the US private sector, and we are seeing different tiers of companies: from the small to medium-size, large size large-scale companies coming here,” President Ali noted.
In addition to companies directly out of the North American nation, the Guyanese Leader pointed out, even US companies operating in the region are looking to expand here – something which he noted would further propel and advance relations between the two nations.
“For example, a lot of the US investors in (the Dominican Republic) are now working towards expanding their brands here in Guyana, and we want to see the success of all of these brands. We want to see the US banking representative offices here. We want to see the US helping our local private sector to access more capital and greater integration of our private sectors,” he stated.
Meanwhile, in efforts to further enhance commercial ties between Guyana and the US, President Ali disclosed that he has coming up a series of engagements that would target big private sector players in the US.
“I’m now looking forward soon for our US-Guyana Strategic Dialogue, in which we’ll outline strategic issues, strategic policies, and strategic opportunities for collaboration with the US and Guyana policymakers, but also (with) the US and Guyana private sector and security architecture. Outside of that, I’m looking forward to having the roundtable with the Secretary of Commerce of the United States, bringing together all the CEOs — the important CEOs in the US — so that we can have direct contact with them and work on bringing more opportunities here in Guyana,” he related. (G-8)