US high-level executives explore investment opportunities in Guyana

…Qatari team in Georgetown to advance cooperation

A group of high-level executives from some of the United States’ leading financial services companies are currently in Guyana to explore the potential investment opportunities available here.
The team of investors from major US and Global Fund managers group met with Presi-dent Dr Irfaan Ali on Wednesday at the Office of the President on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown.

The large visiting delegation spoke to the Guyanese Head of State about potential invest-ment opportunities, and highlighted their areas of expertise. They also enquired about the Government’s vision of the country and ways they can participate in the overall develop-ment.
Among the officials visiting were representatives from the Bank of America, Hess Corpo-ration, Capital Group, MFS Investment Management, Aristotle and Black Rock and other corporations.
During the engagement, President Ali was joined by Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo; Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh and Director of Presidential Affairs, Marcia Nadir-Sharma.
Meanwhile, also on Wednesday Minister Singh led a government team in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a meeting with a visiting Qatari Government dele-gation.
The Qatari officials were led by Head of the Caribbean and South American Division from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Qatar, Shafi Newaimi M.N. Al-Hajri. Also here is Invest-ment & Analysis Director of the Americas from the Qatar Investment Authority, Abdulhadi Ali F A Al -Hajri; Analyst, Investment & Analysis Region, Americas – Qatar Investment Au-thority, Abdulaziz Ahmad A A AlBaker; Project Manager – Qatar Fund for Development, Mohd Ahmad MA AL-Emadi; Project and Development Researcher – Qatar Fund for De-velopment, Fahad Ali S A Al-Kuwari, and Director of International Cooperation from the Qatari Ministry of Finance, Hamad Madi H A Al-Hajri.
According to a statement from the Finance Ministry in Georgetown, the team is in Guyana to meet and discuss a number of developmental opportunities and projects.
Their visit serves as a follow-up to President Ali’s recent trip to Qatar where he met and held discussions with Qatar’s Emir, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and members of his Cabinet at the Amiri Diwan Palace in Doha. During that visit last month, the Guyanese Head of State had opened a Guyana Embassy in Doha.
President Ali, during the momentous occasion noted that Guyana and Qatar share a number of similarities including promoting peace, stability and sustainability. The two countries had advanced discussions on a number of investments and development sec-tors.
Minister Singh had accompanied President Ali during that Qatar visit.
Nevertheless, the Finance Ministry said the Qatari delegation while here will be partici-pating in various meetings with Government and private sector stakeholders with a num-ber of presentations on development areas and projects in Guyana to be made. The team will also be taken on tours of several investment projects.
Also present at the engagement on Wednesday were Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mus-tapha, and other seniors officials from the Ministries of Finance, Foreign Affairs, and Agri-culture.
During the meeting, Minister Mustapha elaborated on the vast potential of Guyana’s agri-culture sector and guided a presentation on opportunities for investment and develop-ment within the various agriculture sub-sectors.
Qatar and Guyana established diplomatic relations in 1996. Qatar is among several Arab nations that have expressed serious interest in investing in various sectors in Guyana.
Last October, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Engineer Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi had led a delegation to Guyana to explore various opportunities here. During Al-Kaabi’s visit, discussions between the two countries centred on potential collaboration in the areas of energy, food, infrastructure, and aviation.
In April 2022, President Ali and his team also met with a delegation from the Qatari In-vestment Mission, to advance discussions on investment opportunities in the country. The Qatari Investment Mission representatives were the Group Chairman of Power Inter-national Holding, Moutaz Al Khayyat; the Group Chief Venture Officer of Power Interna-tional Holding, Ali Kazma; and the company’s Chief Business Development Officer, Mazen Alsbeti.
Also, in November 2021, President Ali had met with senior officials of the Qatar Invest-ment Authority (QIA) – the Sovereign Wealth Fund of the Middle Eastern State. The vis-iting team comprised two QIA Executives, Abdulhadi F A Al-Hajri, and Dany Farah Nakhoul. Their visit was a follow-up to talks started by President Ali and the Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
And in February this year, it was announced that Guyana would be receiving help with the oil and gas sector from Qatar. Specifically, Qatar would be helping Guyana create a gas uti-lisation and monetisation plan ahead of the commissioning of the Government’s model Gas-to-Energy project. (G8)