Experts: Guyana’s investment growth fuelled by government’s strategic vision

Guyana’s investment growth remains strong, supported by the government’s implementable strategies, long-term vision, and focused development plans.

This is according to the country’s Chief Investment Officer and Agency Head of the Guyana Office for Investment, Dr Peter Ramsaroop.

In a conversation with Financial Analyst Joel Bhagwandin on the television programme Ignite Finance, Dr Ramsaroop noted that over the last five years, Guyana’s investment strategy continues to yield positive results, spurred by the present government’s investment momentum.

Making a comparison, he explained that the previous administration lacked strategy, vision, and implementable plans, which he opined are key elements for investment, when asked how he sees Guyana as an investment destination over the last five years.

“Fast forward to 2020, we did inherit a stagnant economy, a backward economy. What the PPP government did and Dr Ali when he came into government, presented a measurable, long-term strategy—2030 and beyond. In the five years that he has been in office he has put and implemented that measurable plan. So, from an investment standpoint, backwards to 2020, an investor wanted to see first a country with good leadership, bold leadership; that had vision, strategy, the measurable plan and understand what it takes to move a nation forward,” Dr Ramsaroop noted.

Additionally, Bhagwandin said all sectors across Guyana have been doing extremely well over the last five years, which he noted has created the perfect environment for investment.

“Coming to 2020, the outcome of those events were compounded when you had the election fiasco and further compounded when you had the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, when I look at the numbers, all the indicators are significantly improved. Credit to the private sector has doubled, we’ve seen investment both domestic and private with investment increasing exponentially. We’ve seen the economy expanding from an 800 billion dollars economy to a nearly five trillion dollars economy today. The non-oil economy alone is about 1.6 trillion dollars,” Bhagwandin said.

Bhagwandin added that there were unfriendly tax measures in place and policies which prohibited the expansion of private sector investment, with stagnated growth in terms of credit.

Through strategic investment and the creation of a conducive business climate, job creation has been on an upward trajectory with estimates indicating in excess of 70,000 over the last five years.