Georgetown : Guyana’s premier trade fair and exhibition, GUYEXPO was officially launched LAST evening by President Donald Ramotar at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), Liliendaal under the theme, “Transformation: Partnering for a Better Guyana”.
GUYEXPO provides a platform for importers, exporters, retailers and wholesalers both local and foreign to showcase their products, interact with each other, and create trade linkages.
Delivering the feature address, President Ramotar spoke of the importance of building a strong, competitive productive sector in Guyana. He made reference to the recently held meeting of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), where the disadvantages of the unavailability of cheap energy were highlighted.
He said this state of affair can change given the fact that Guyana has an enormous capacity to produce renewable energy to satisfy its own needs, as well as those of neighbouring countries.
For this reason he said, his Government has been trying its utmost to develop the Amaila Falls Hydropower project. He assured that despite being voted down in the Parliament, the Government’s efforts to bring this project to fruition has been, and will remain unwavering since this project will see the country acquiring the most important infrastructure needed to propel its development.
“We will never have a strong industrial and manufacturing sector without having cheap energy in our society and therefore we will continue to pursue this project,” the President said.
Over the years, the Government has invested heavily in infrastructural development across the country to increase and improve production and productivity. President Ramotar explained that these developments are absolutely vital in a modern society.
Some of these projects include: the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Expansion project, a deep water harbour, the Linden-Lethem Road and the Marriott Hotel. The realisation of these projects will drive the country’s economy and bring tremendous benefits to Guyanese citizens.
Public Private Partnerships (PPPs)
The President said that the Government has successfully pursued major projects through PPPs such as the Berbice River Bridge and called on the private sector to make greater use of this mechanism; seeking strategic partnerships not only with each other, but with foreign companies as well to improve the capacity of the country and expand its economic base.
He reiterated the need for more technology to be incorporated into the agriculture sector since it offers more possibilities for the sector and those involved in it. He lamented that internationally, the price of food has begun to rise, and therefore it is important for the sector to be further diversified to ensure food security.
“International trade for us is vital. Our internal market is extremely small and therefore for us to prosper and develop, export is extremely important…we have to also think about adding value and only by creating a good industrial sector we can add the kind of value that we want,” the President said.
While the Government has been investing in infrastructure that will drive economic development, even more attention is being paid to the sector in an effort to boost the country’s human capital and built the necessary capacity.
For this reason, the largest section of spending in successive annual budgets goes towards the social sector.
“This is the area where we think we can redistribute income more to our people and give greater opportunities to our young people,” he said.
Mention was also made of the advisory issued by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) regarding Guyana’s inability to pass and enact its Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill.
The President said that, “the only impediment that we have is in ourselves…I am told that even if we pass the Bill tomorrow, it does not mean that automatically everything will be alright…it will take some time for us to come out of what has already taken place…passage of this Bill is very vital for our development, this is not something to bargain with.”
He called on the Opposition to show some patriotism and ensure the Bill’s passage as soon as possible. He reminded that this type of “lobbying” politics will hurt the poor the most because they are the ones with the least resources.
Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce (ag), Irfaan Ali in his remarks echoed the President’s sentiment on PPPs. He said that, “we believe partnerships are critical for transforming Guyana.” This call for partnership is reflected in the theme for this year’s event.
The Minister spoke of the tremendous investments from both the public and private sectors that are changing the outlook and the business environment of Guyana.
This development and transformation is perhaps more evident in the housing sector and the Minister, under whose responsibility the housing sector falls, said that the private sector must play a key and pivotal role in the housing and construction sector in any society.
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