Though Guyana is receiving international attention for its developing oil and gas sector, President Dr. Irfaan Ali has emphasised that there are several other attractive sectors that are ripe for investment.
The President said this on Tuesday while addressing the Expo2020 in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); Guyana has its own pavilion at this international expo and October 19 has been designated the Guyana National Day.
On the occasion of Guyana’s National Day, President Ali and a high-level team of government ministers and other government officials visited the expo and witnessed the Guyanese cultural display. Importantly, though, President Ali used the opportunity to talk-up investments in Guyana’s many lucrative sectors.
“The country is being prepared for its fastest and most explosive economic and social transformation.
“Guyana is set to become a leading oil and gas producer, an energy powerhouse, a bastion of food security, a prime destination for sustainable tourism and a regional information communications technology hub,” President Ali told the gathering, which included Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, a Minister of the UAE government.
And, with good governance and a vision for the country’s development, the President said that Guyana needs investments to convert the abundant resources into wealth for the prosperity of all.
As such, he contended that this expo allows Guyana to showcase its products and services but to underline its investment opportunities.
“… we are keen on attracting investments across all sectors,” Dr. Ali said, noting that Guyana is an open economy with investor-friendly policies. Among those policies are attractive incentive regimes and an enabling legal environment that protects the right to property and the freedom to repatriate profits.
The President also highlighted that Guyana’s geographic location is a strategic one, allowing access to Brazil and Suriname. The Takutu Bridge which connects Guyana to Brazil and the forthcoming Guyana to Suriname bridge, the Head-of-State said, are key linkages that provide access to larger markets.
Aside from those business prospects, the President pointed out too that Guyana’s natural environment is another of its unique features. With intact forests, the country has an abundance of wildlife but also sprawling savannahs, both complemented by a network of waterways.
This, the President said, makes Guyana an attractive ecotourism destination. But importantly too, he emphasised that Guyana is a net carbon-sink since more than 80 per cent of the country is covered by forests that generate oxygen and capture and store carbon. This process provides critical environmental and biodiversity services, necessary to mitigate against the harmful effects of global warming and climate change.
Though Guyana is now pursuing the development of its oil and gas sector, he said that Guyana’s commitment to the preservation and protection of the environment has not been reduced. In fact, he said that the trading of carbon credits- that is, being paid to keep forests intact- is another market for Guyana.
“We will continue to pursue oil production offshore, but onshore we will definitely intensify the de-carbonisation of the economy.
“We will do so principally on an expanded Low Carbon Development Strategy, which will emphasise low levels of deforestation, biodiversity protection, freshwater management, the sustainable development of the marine economy and conservation,” Dr. Ali told those at the expo.
