Dr Irfaan Ali president of Guyana said that Guyana’s future development trajectory is predicated on strengthening traditional sectors and building new ones, as he urged United Kingdom investors to be more aggressive in their approach.
The Head of State made this assertion while speaking about Guyana’s potential and investment opportunities during his feature address at the Guyana Investment Seminar, held today at Carlton House in London, England.
He agreed that while the UK has earmarked millions of pounds that Guyana can qualify for through investment, infrastructure development and infrastructure transformation, there is a lack of aggressiveness from the UK and EU private sectors.
“Many people ask sometimes why Chinese investors find the market faster than anyone else; well I can tell you from our humble experience, their aggression is far different.”
He then pointed out the benefits of investing in a developing Guyana.
“Our development is about creating a broad platform for the future; a platform in which we are going to strengthen traditional sectors, make them more competitive…we’re going to go after new sectors.”
Among the sectors, he outlined, included Information Communication Technology (ICT), education, healthcare and tourism.
ICT was described as one of the “new pillars” that will support the economy. He also said that Guyana wants to create a health sector that is world-class and a “knowledge sector” where education will play an important role. The President highlighted Guyana’s proximity to the US as a positive for visitors, who are looking for an alternative in medical services, and the country’s geographic position of bridging South America with the Caribbean.
HOSPITALITY TRAINING IN CANADA
In the tourism sector, President Ali announced that Canada will help to train Guyanese in hospitality management. He said that Guyana has launched a programme to get 6000 Guyanese trained in the sector. This, he stressed, was necessary to not only create the opportunity but to build institutional capacity and human capacity to meet the opportunities ahead.
