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Guyana is an investor’s paradise – President Ali tells Caribbean Investment Forum
President Irfaan Ali
Kaieteur News – The third Caribbean Investment Forum (CIF) opened on Wednesday at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre in Georgetown with Guyana’s Head of State, President Irfaan Ali, calling on delegates to take advantage of the many opportunities and incentives on offer locally.
Describing Guyana as an investor’s paradise, the President told a packed chamber that Guyana is open for investment.
“Guyana is open to investment and has a very friendly investment climate. Guyana offers generous and favourable fiscal investment incentives. Guyana is an open foreign exchange market with low inflation and a stable financial system,” the Head of State noted. Furthermore, he added, “investors can repatriate their profits without restrictions.”
Still focused on convincing investors, Ali pointed out that Guyana recently launched a single-window construction platform to quickly approve building permits. “The system was so bureaucratic, so porous, so susceptible to human bias and human interference, that we decided to have a single-window approval system,” he explained. “Two weeks ago, we launched a single-window approval system that is system-based, rule-based and holds stakeholders accountable.”
The President stressed that if the technicians fail to respond within the stipulated time, the project will automatically be deemed approved.
Turning his attention to investment opportunities in Guyana, the President said: “In every sector, we have outlined for you the investment opportunities that exist in Guyana…energy, wind, hydro, solar, waste-to-energy operations, agriculture, forestry, manufacturing, mining, services, tourism, housing.”
The President acknowledged that some challenges had to be faced but strategies were being developed to overcome them.
Also speaking at the opening of the three-day Caribbean Investment Forum were Dr. Damy Sinanan, Director General of the Caribbean Export Development Agency, Dr. Cara Barnett, Secretary General of the Caribbean Community, René Van Ness, Ambassador of the European Union to Guyana, and Lisa Harding, Head of Private Sector at the Caribbean Development Bank.
For his part, Dr. Sinanaan said the conference marked a significant shift in the region’s collective approach to securing the vital investments needed for economic development and diversification in countries. “The Caribbean region offers investment opportunities across a wide range of sectors and the Forum provides a platform for a variety of public and private stakeholders to meet and advance this cause,” he was keen to note.
Meanwhile, in her brief remarks, Dr. Barnett noted the need for investment in addressing the region’s vulnerabilities, especially in relation to climate change. “There is also room for investment in technology adoption mechanisms, business information and capacity building platforms, infrastructure development and innovation projects, whether it is agriculture and food and nutrition security, green economic transformation or business digitalization, there is also a lot of room to increase the participation of women and youth in new investment projects,” she urged.
The theme of this year’s three-day Caribbean Investment Forum is “Transforming the Future, Enabling Growth”. The conference will close on Friday with an intensive session on investment opportunities in the region.
This year’s forum will focus on three investment areas – sustainable agriculture, green economic transformation and enterprise digitalization.
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