ON DECEMBER 28, 2012, Dr. Ashni Singh, Minister of Finance, and His Excellency Zhang Limin, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Guyana, signed yet another Agreement on Economic and Technical Co-operation. Under this agreement, the Government of the People’s Republic of China will provide RMB¥30,000,000 (equivalent to US$4.8M or G$998.0M) for the implementation of bilateral co-operation projects to be agreed upon

by the two governments.
In March of this year, a Technical Co-operation Agreement, valued at RMB¥30,000,000 (Renminbi Yuan Thirty Million) was also signed to finance development projects.
Recently, in November 2012, the Governments of Guyana and the People’s Republic of China signed a Concessional Loan Agreement valued at RMB¥825,000,000 (equivalent to US$130,000,000) for the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Expansion Project. This project entails the construction of a new terminal building, the extension of the runway and the general enhancement of the airport facilities to accommodate larger aircraft and the increasing arrival and departure of passengers.
Another gesture of the continued bilateral co-operation between the two countries resulted in the Government of the People’s Republic of China delivering, during January 2012, two new state-of-the-art ferries, MV Kanawan and MV Sabanto, to improve river transport between the counties of Demerara and Essequibo.
Over the years, the Government and people of Guyana have benefited significantly from a number of interventions from the People’s Republic of China in areas such as health, trade, infrastructure, energy, mining, transport and communication, agriculture, sport and culture, among others, from the Technical Cooperation Agreement Grants.
Larger intervention projects, such as the Guyana Power and Light Transmission and Distribution Project, which began in 2010, would assist in strengthening the current electricity network. This project aims to stabilize power supply and reduce production costs through the construction of several substations along the coast, together with the installation of transmission lines and fibre optic cables linking each substation.
During 2011, Guyana received another concessional loan of RMB Yuan 215,000,000 Million or US$32M to finance the E-Government Project aimed at improving the communication infrastructure for government ministries and agencies. This project involves the establishment of a data centre and the construction of Long Term Evolution (LTE) towers along the coastal belt to provide reliable internet access.