Guyana wants China’s help to ‘unlock potential’ with Guyana- Brazil road

Guyana is upgrading miles of hinterland roadway that connects the capital city Georgetown with Lethem, the town that borders northern Brazil, it is believed that China can provide much-needed support to that project.

This is according to Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hugh Todd who travelled with President Dr. Irfaan Ali for a  visit to China.

Todd, while speaking at a reception held at Guyana’s embassy in Beijing on Sunday, said Guyana has been forming “strategic alliances” across the globe. China is one example, he said, of a strategic partner.

Because of this partnership, he believes China is well-positioned to provide more support to Guyana as it constructs the massive roadway between Guyana and Brazil.

“…. with the partnership that we have with China and the partnership that we have with Brazil, to unlock the potential that we have to connect northern Brazil with the rest of the world, we see China as a critical member of the BRICS community playing a great role in ensuring that we make that alignment possible,” Todd said while addressing the event on Sunday.

The BRICS comprises some of the world’s most populated countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Guyana sits at the northern edge of the South American continent and believes that it can become a key transhipment hub for the continent and Caribbean region.

Over the past two years, works on the Linden to Mabura leg of the road project have advanced with a Brazilian company, Construtora Queiroz Galvao S.A. copping the whopping US$190 million contract for this roadway.

Already, Guyana is China’s largest trading partner in the Caribbean and the two countries are hoping to deepen bilateral ties with a huge focus on boosting trade and investment promotion.

This road project is viewed as one that will help Guyana expand trade even more.

Todd also affirmed that the two countries share a “solid” and “unshakeable” partnership that bodes well for Guyanese and Caribbean people.