News in the press about the abortive opening of the Takutu Bridge from the Brazil side of the border reminded me of my recent visit to Boa Vista, the capital of the State of Roraima in Brazil. It was an eye opener. I met business leaders, members of Roraima’s legislature, the Governor and several officials. I was generously assisted by officials of the Guyana Consulate and the Governor’s Office.

I have to confess that even though I had previously visited Brasilia and Region 9 in Guyana, I had never ventured next door to Roraima. I was keen to cure my ignorance of our neighbours on the border.

I had heard many stories about Roraima and its capital, Boa Vista, before I arrived. The two important facts I had learnt was that Boa Vista was a carefully planned and constructed city and that a closer connection between Guyana and Boa Vista was important for both Guyana and Brazil because of the great possibilities of our people and governments doing business together. Boa Vista lived up to my expectations. It’s a beautiful city, attractive to those of us who are accustomed to small cities, and admired by those of us who appreciate the elegant result of forward planning.

Brazil is now without doubt one of the most important and influential countries in the world. Its great size and burgeoning economy, perched on the cusp of becoming an oil power, and the exercise of a deft diplomatic touch with its growing influence, has earned it a place at the table of the developed world because its actions and policies already influence regional and world economic developments. While our interests do not always coincide in a few matters, as in the case of Brazil’s opposition to the EU’s preferential treatment of ACP sugar, they do in a great deal else and there is no question that the outcome of closer economic relations can only have an enormously beneficial impact on both countries, particularly Guyana.

I found in Boa Vista a palpable excitement among business leaders about the potential for increased cooperation between Boa Vista and Guyana. I am not surprised at the anxiety of the Brazilians to get the Takutu Bridge in operation and this would explain the attempted opening.

Brazilian Indians have recently won a case in Brazil’s courts reserving large tracts of lands in the area of the Amazon rain forest for their use. These lands are no longer available for commercial cultivation of soya, rice and other products which require extensive acreage of lands. Roraima business people are therefore in search of lands on which they can produce a large variety of agricultural crops. Brazil is already an agricultural power, an aspiration which Guyana has had and has articulated for many years and which is even more important now with the impending challenges by climate change to the world’s food supply. Only a few weeks ago I met a delegation from Brazil comprising one of the largest agricultural producers in Roraima who are looking into the possibility of growing rice in Region 9. There are credible reports of other business people looking for lands for soya cultivation. These, of course, have to be accommodated having regard to the lands required in that area for cattle rearing, which is an old and existing industry. There are numerous other areas of business activity which have the potential of development and which are being explored in Boa Vista and in Lethem as we speak (or as I write).

Brazil has long been on a stable growth trajectory and, with the discovery of petroleum, the potential for further, more rapid, growth will increase in the coming decades in geometric proportions. Roraima State, as all other areas of Brazil, will derive positive benefits from the overall growth of the economy and will be propelled forward into the development of its industry and agriculture. Guyana is poised to benefit from those developments, not by catching crumbs, but as a full partner. Guyana has resources that Roraima needs and vice versa and the joint utilisation of those resources will benefit all.

At the southern border the Takutu Bridge was constructed by the Brazilian Government upon agreement with Guyana. Brazil would not have expended that sum and Guyana would not have agreed unless it was in the interest of both countries. My visit to Boa Vista convinced me that that the Brazil Government would not have funded this project without the urging of the people of Roraima State and unless it was in Brazil’s and Roraima’s interest.

What is that interest? There are several and of different layers. The first is that it is in accordance with a Latin American project to improve road communication between countries in this hemisphere. The second is that engagement between our peoples would be enhanced by increased traffic and easier communication. The third is that it opens up far greater opportunities than currently exists for cross border investment and trade. The fourth is that it brings closer the day when there will be a paved road linking Brazil and Guyana.

The increasing linkages among Latin American countries over the past twenty years, driven by the realization that their futures depend on greater cooperation, have resulted, at least in Brazil’s and Guyana’s case of increasing Brazilian investment in Guyana and movement of people across our borders, particularly Brazilians to Guyana. Brazilian investment in the mining industry is now significant and growing. This took place at the level of miners and though not targeted by the two governments, the people took things in their own hands and moved forward in an industry which was awaiting the introduction of advanced resources and equipment. Aspects of business in the city are now attracting Brazilian attention.

The greatest excitement and most frequent talking point among Brazilians and Guyanese is the possibility of a paved road linking Boa Vista and Georgetown and a deep water harbor in Guyana. This project is based on the perceived need for such a linkage to facilitate the shipping of goods from southern Brazil to North America and Europe. It is argued that such a transit route will be shorter, faster and cheaper than the route now utilised by northern Brazil through southern Brazil. It is believed in Guyana that such a development will bring untold benefits to Guyana and will mark a truly significant step in the history of Guyana’s southern outlook.

If such a bridge (about which a pre-feasibility study is due to be conducted) ever becomes a possibility it will elevate Guyana’s relations with Brazil to a new and higher level. It will make a great deal of Brazil’s goods more competitively priced because of the cheaper shipping costs. It will trigger large scale development in Roraima to take advantage of cheaper transportation costs. It will transform Region 9 and Guyana’s infrastructural profile. It will greatly enlarge Guyana’s economy by encouraging investments of all kinds. It will increase Guyana’s image as a secure home for investments.

In a statement in the National Assembly arising from the purported ‘opening’ of the Takutu Bridge, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated: “The Takutu Bridge is symbolic of the ever-growing ties and cooperation between the Republic of Guyana and the Federative Republic of Brazil.” There is a foundation for building an ever growing relationship. I felt the passion in Boa Vista. It’s here in Guyana too. It’s growing in the Caribbean with the recent visit of Caribbean business leaders to Boa Vista. Now is the time for action.