WASHINGTON, DC – Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali says while his country is rapidly evolving as an oil and gas market, the economy will not depend solely on the “treasured natural resource” for countrywide development.
Guyana President Dr. irfaan Ali (left) at a forum hosted by the Atlantic Council, Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, on Monday evening (DPI Photo),Ali, who is heading a delegation here for talks with senior US government officials, said the essential resource is an important part of the country’s development trajectory.
He said while hydrocarbon will bring essential revenues into the country, such income must be used to expand the economy, increasing competitiveness, and opening up new opportunities.
Addressing a live broadcast forum hosted by the Atlantic Council, Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, on Monday evening, President Ali said that the fund will be used to unlock the potential of several areas which existed for a long time, but were stagnant due to lack of resources.
“Guyana has all the natural assets to be a leading food producer in the region. But food production today must be backed by appropriate technology and investment in infrastructure that will ensure the agriculture is sustainable and resilient to climate change and the effects of climate change,” he said, noting that such an achievement requires capital.
“…and this is one example of how the revenues from oil and gas can be deployed to position Guyana, not only for the benefit of Guyana, but the position Guyana to contribute significantly to the food security of the region as a whole,” he added.
Ali said that the prosperity of Guyana must also bring wealth and success to the region.
Guyana’s biodiversity and environmental wealth is well documented. The forest stores 19.5 gigatons of carbon. The standing value of the forests is over US$500 billion. Additionally, the forest has the potential of earning in excess of US$100 million in carbon credit annually.
There are opportunities that reside in other natural resource sector including bauxite, gold, and diamond and President Ali said this would mean that Guyana is rich in minerals and those areas can be supported to become competitive with the necessary investments.
“…whether (it) is the roadways, the opening up of these areas, in a way that is sustainable. Investing in the right technology so that we can maximize output whilst protecting the environment.”
He reiterated that the government’s’ investment portfolio goes beyond oil and gas, agriculture, and human transformation and that his administration wants to build a knowledge economy that is supported with Information, and Communications Technology (ICT) to make Guyana a natural hub for ICT services.
He said as a result, building in development incentives so that multinationals can move their regional headquarters to Guyana.
“As we move forward as a country, important to the development and transformation that will take place is governance, democracy, transparency, and we are working aggressively on ensuring that all democratic credentials are embedded in the moral aspect of the development of our country.”
During his address, President Ali said food production plays a critical part in the development trajectory of Guyana and that the development mix which includes infrastructure, and economic transformation among other things, require the human resource transformation.
“That’s why we are investing health in health and education, and we are using the best who are good at this.
“Whether is the overhaul of the management system for our healthcare, ensuring that we have an education system that just does not deliver academic education, but one that position our education output into areas that the future economy would require, whether it’s robotics, software engineering, software development, coding, these are all areas in which we want our human resource potential to be positioned to take advantage of,’ Ali said.
Ali told his audience that the first day of his visit led to “fruitful discussions” with US officials and Guyana intends further developing the synergy that already exists between the countries.
“The goal of this week is to bring harmonization between the plans and the programs of Guyana and the aspirations of the US, both at the governmental level and the private sector.
“We cannot have a partnership unless the two countries have a fulsome understanding of the development priorities, the challenges and the opportunities and how those challenges can be mitigated and how those opportunities can be advanced.”
“We want to build a knowledge economy that is supported with investment in ICT, making Guyana a natural hub for ICT services. We are also building in our development incentives so that multinationals can move their regional headquarters to Guyana to support their investments, to support their position in the market, in the region, Latin America and Caribbean.”
He said essential components of this development and transformation are good governance, democracy and transparency and that the government is working aggressively on ensuring that the country’s democratic credentials are embedded in the moral aspect of the development of the country.
“That is why the relationship with the US is so critical, because we share common values on democracy, on freedom,” he said, reiterating that the United States is a “valued partner.
“The US has always been very supportive of the growth and development of our country, and more recently, the US has been very instrumental and supportive in ensuring that democracy prevailed in our country, and that came about because of the fundamental value system of the US. The way the United States values democracy and the political party I come from, we share those values.”
He also spoke of the relationship between the private sectors of both countries, their contribution to Guyana’s development through the involvement in various sectors including oil and gas, as well as the expansion of this cooperation to allow the US private sector to “play a greater role to go after great opportunities.
“What we’re seeking to do is to expand that participation in all the other sectors, the emerging areas, ensuring that the US is at the table on climate change, on us finding the balance in terms of energy security, working together in dealing with transnational crime. We have had an aggressive increase in our collaboration and partnership in dealing with security issues.
