INDIA – President Irfaan Ali has invited India to aggressively pursue investment opportunities in Guyana.
President Irfaan Ali addressing the Global Investors Summit in India.The two states are already collaborating to establish a clear and comprehensive strategy through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that focuses on areas of cooperation to drive growth and promote business opportunities.
Addressing the inaugural session of the Global Investors Summit in Madhya Pradesh, India, on Wednesday, President Ali said the aim is to encourage companies to form partnerships and consortiums to unlock untapped potential.
He highlighted the potential of Guyana and how it can become a global leader like the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, despite its small population.
Emphasizing the importance of collaboration between the private and public sectors to unlock his country’s potential, President Ali said India is well positioned to provide leadership in establishing a framework to accomplish the mandate.
“None of this could have occurred without the right ecosystem, the right investment environment, the right policies and programs to stimulate investment and growth, and that is where the role of good governance and good policymaking comes in. And we must applaud the Government of India and here in Madhya Pradesh, the chief minister and his cabinet for the type of policies and programs they have instituted to ensure this growth and development that we’re seeing,” he noted.
The President referenced the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate how the world is closely connected, and how a global crisis can have a sweeping effect on economies.
To this end, Ali posited that with the right environmental policy framework, technology can also be used to affect the world positively.
He, therefore, urged India to provide leadership in this area and called on the industry leaders to establish a new framework for creating a sustainable future.
“Today, there is need for a new global investment order…that seeks to create a win-win situation between states, that seeks to harmonize strategies and policymaking, that seeks to have greater market integration, that seeks to have greater people integration, that seeks to create a more balanced compatible policy environment and one in which we can match our strategies of development,” he said.
The Government is embarking on building the services sector in Guyana and the region and President Ali noted that while the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
may seem small, it is the world’s most influential tourism market and it requires people and financial and hospitality services.
“India you are positioned in a way better than others to be the leader in the vision of these services to support the ecosystem. And I invite you to look at the opportunities as they exist in positioning yourself as the strongest player in providing human resource, capacity, capability, and competence in servicing these industries in the region,” the Guyanese leader underscored.
He said Guyana is advancing to be an important player in technology, food production, energy security, human resource development, natural resources, climate change, and security.
