US-Guyana trade exceeded US$3.9B in 2022 – President Ali

…Secretary Blinken says bond between 2 countries will grow

By Vahnu Manikchand

As Guyana and the United States continue to strengthen their already-strong bilateral relations, trade between the two nations amounted to more than $3.9 billion last year alone.
This was revealed by President Dr Irfaan Ali during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who travelled to Guyana on Thursday for a one-day visit.

Following a meeting between the visiting United States official and senior members of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government Cabinet at State House in Georgetown, the Head of State highlighted the strong trade relations Guyana and the US share.
“United States is Guyana’s largest trading partner with accumulated trade of over US$3.9 billion in 2022. United States is overall ranked our number one export … destination, US$2.7 billion in 2022; and our number one import … source, US$1.2 billion,” he disclosed.
According to President Ali, while the relationship between the two countries spans many sectors, they share common interests in three priority areas – food security, energy security, and climate security.
“Guyana is contributing significantly [in the region] in all three of these areas. The vision of Guyana is to position our country as a global leader on energy security, food security, and climate security. We’re seeking to expand our partnership with the US in all of these areas,” he posited.

US-Guyana bond
Meanwhile, Secretary Blinken said “productive discussions” were held during Thursday’s engagement between his delegation and the Guyana Government. He went on to reassure of the United States’ commitment towards working with Guyana on its developmental path.
“I know the bonds between our people will continue to grow… It’s really a pleasure to be here with you to continue our ongoing dialogue and the work that we’re doing together – with one of our closest partners in the Caribbean – at a moment of such profound transformation, such profound change and such profound hope,” the Secretary of State noted.
In fact, President Ali pointed out that the US’s strategic partnership was not only helpful and supportive in the current development phase of Guyana ,but a key element especially with the US$2 billion financing from the US EXIM Bank. He further noted that the interest shown by the US Private Sector in the local economy continues to grow.
As a matter of fact, in the last three years alone, the figure for foreign direct investment from the US in Guyana stood at US$4.2 billion.
“This is the highest in history. And if you look at the investment from different countries, this is the highest investment over the last few years,” the President noted.
However, even as he pledged to work on presenting Guyana as a more sustainable destination for US investments, the Guyanese Leader stressed that this level of heightened interest from businesses in the North American nation has not always been there.

Private Sector aggression
“I said before publicly that the aggression from the US Private Sector was not there in terms of going after the opportunities [in Guyana]. But as a result of the strong bilateral relationship over the last years, and setting that tone and creating that policy environment and building that trust, we have seen a complete change from the US Private Sector. And this is as a result of both countries, at a policy level, saying to the Private Sector, saying to the investors, there is an opportunity. We are welcoming that opportunity and that has created a positive shift. More and more investments are coming from the US,” the Head of State noted.
President Ali was at the time responding to a question from an ABC News reporter, who asked about Guyana’s “deepened” bilateral relations with China and the scope for enhanced cooperation.
In response, the Guyanese Leader underscored that China was one of Guyana’s many development partners. He noted that with China having a huge global footprint, the Chinese companies have been “very aggressive in the way they do business; they go after opportunities”.
According to Ali, that aggression is now being replicated by investors from different parts of the world here in Guyana. He pointed to the country’s broad investment portfolio which ranges from the United Kingdom, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates among others.
“The fact is very little was known about us… we did not have the type of public following or global following that we have today… Since oil was discovered, we’ve a very welcome interest from the global community on Guyana and we’re utilising that interest to showcase Guyana not as an oil and gas producer, but as a country that has the ability to provide strong global leadership on climate change, food security, and energy security,” the President stated.
Meanwhile, Secretary Blinken also met with Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton on Thursday.
Efforts by Guyana Times to contact Norton on that meeting were futile, however based on local reports, the Opposition Leader presented the US official with a dossier of his party’s – A Partnership for National Unity’s – concerns.
Secretary Blinken is the second US Secretary of State to visit Guyana under the current PPP/C Government.