THE year 2014 was a bright one for Guyana in terms of investments as the country was able to attract some $196 billion in investments from 234 projects, creating some 15,868 jobs.
According to Go-Invest, of the 234 projects, 162 were piloted by local businesses while the remainder was drawn from Foreign Direct Investment.The areas that attracted the investments were agriculture, energy, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), light manufacturing, mining, services, tourism and wood products.
Investments in locally proposed projects totalled some $107.5 billion, creating some 7,254 jobs, while proposed Foreign Direct Investment amounted to $88.4 billion.
Go-Invest Chief Executive Officer, Keith Burrowes told the Guyana Chronicle that the successes achieved last year was due to more aggressive marketing, pointing out that the marketing and promotional campaigns will intensify both locally and overseas this year.

Last year, in the local arena, light manufacturing accounted for the most projects, some 39, which together valued some $6729.1 million, creating some 1247 jobs while the agriculture sector attracted investments worth some $14088.6 million, the highest sum compared to the other sectors. This sum was from 36 projects, creating some 916 jobs.
The light manufacturing sector created some 1,946 jobs, the highest compared to the other sectors in 2014, from 17 projects worth some $5887.2 million.
ENERGY AND ICT SECTORS
There was one project each in the energy and ICT sectors. The single project in the energy sector created some 45 jobs and was worth some $80 million, while the other in the ICT area enabled job opportunities for some 120 persons and the investment was valued some $5,000 million.
Doing quite the opposite in terms of the number of investments, the services and tourism sectors both attracted 34 projects each.
The investments in the services sector was worth some $51,639.3 million, creating some 1,828 jobs while the projects in the tourism sector allowed job openings for some 1,152 persons from a total investment valued some $24,103 million.
Go-Invest reported that there was no local project in the mining sector in 2014.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

In the area of Foreign Direct Investment, light manufacturing again attracted the highest number of projects; a total of 26, creating some 1,150 jobs from investments valued some $17,587.2 million.
But the highest sum in terms of value of investment was raked-in from the tourism sector, some $36,102.7 million. Through these investments, some 1,538 jobs were created in this sector, and incidentally, this was also the highest number of jobs created when compared to the other sectors.
The tourism sector also did well in terms of attracting Foreign Direct Investments. From 12 projects, a sum of $18,973 million in investments was garnered, creating some 636 jobs.
In the ICT sector, there were six projects, valued some $4,260 million, creating some 3,345 jobs, while in the wood products sector, some 499 jobs were created from four projects worth some $58,63.9 million.
There was one Foreign Direct Investment in the mining sector which created 500 jobs from an investment to the tune of $3,000 million.
Put together, both local and foreign investments in agriculture created 1,862 jobs from 50 projects; the energy sector 45 jobs from two projects; the ICT sector 3,465 jobs from 7 projects; light manufacturing 2,397 jobs from 65 projects; mining 500 jobs from one project; the services sector 3,366 jobs from 42 projects; the tourism sector 1,788 jobs from 46 projects; and the wood products sector 2,445 jobs from 21 projects.

OUTREACHES AND COLLABORATIONS
Last year Go-Invest participated in the Agriculture and Food Fair in St. Croix, the Foire Expo in Martinique and Guadeloupe, the University of Guyana job fair and GuyExpo.
It also participated in a meeting to assess the export of products from Guyana and Suriname to Brazil, consultation on market intelligence and the development of a regional export promotion strategy, continuous match-making between importers and exporters, and outreaches in Anna Regina, New Amsterdam, Rose Hall and Linden. These outreaches targeted persons who were interested in starting a business or expanding their businesses.
In addition, Go-Invest collaborated with GuyExpo to host the Investment Forum in 2014, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to increase co-operation and foster collaboration with the Barbados Investment and Development Co-operation (BIDC), as well as collaborating with the Guyana Consulate in Mimi to host the Guyana Trade, Tourism and Investment Expo 2014.
Notwithstanding the good performance by Go-Invest in 2014, it suffered a few setbacks as a result of the cutting of its budget in the 10th Parliament. This resulted in some of its activities that were planned being cancelled.
Burrowes told the Guyana Chronicle that the agency did not see a lot of interaction with investors from the mining sector, largely because Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) facilitated all concessions within this sector. On that score, he pointed out that while Go-Invest is the principal investment agency, it is not the only agency that deals with investments in Guyana. The Natural Resources Ministry and the GCMC also facilitated investors under the former Administration.
By Tajeram Mohabir