Photo of His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali
– President Ali
His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, has said that the framework agreement for the Growth in the Americas Initiative signed with the United States (US) will act as a catalyst for investment in local businesses.
President Ali made this statement in his address during a joint press conference, today, with the United States (US) Secretary of State, Mr. Michael Pompeo.
“We have a large Diaspora in the US. We have great opportunities here, and we want to see more investment and more Private Sector interest from the US. So, this agreement not only sends the right signal but sets the foundation for the building of local capacity here in our local private sector,” the President said.
Guyana is the second country in the Caribbean, behind Jamaica, to sign on to the Initiative. The agreement, the President said, will pave the way for the US private sector to expand their investment portfolio and partner with their Guyanese counterpart.
“These partnerships will help to meet our broader infrastructure and downstream development needs and by extension drive economic growth and development as well as job creation,” Dr. Ali said.
Meanwhile, Secretary Pompeo said Guyanese should not fear foreign direct investment. He said the US intends to build on the best of what Guyana has to offer, without political strings attached. Further, he said, the companies investing are not government-owned.
“These are Private Sector companies looking to make life better for the Guyanese people and to do a good turn for their company… We want to make sure that the wealth that is created from these opportunities are opportunities that belong to the people of Guyana, go to all the people of Guyana, and do so in a transparent and fair way,” Secretary Pompeo said.
A similar agreement was signed between Guyana and Belize in July 2017. The trade and investment agreement seeks to increase joint initiatives between the private sectors of both countries. It also does not specify quotas on imports or exports, nor does it put limitations on products that can be traded between the countries.
