– Several agreements to be signed
KUWAIT Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is due here tomorrow for a one-day official visit to seal economic and other agreements with Guyana.
After an official visit to that country in January this year, President Bharrat Jagdeo announced that Kuwait has agreed to provide up to US$10M for an infrastructure project here, and said this most likely will be used to develop 10,000 more house lots for low-income groups.
Kuwaiti assistance will come through the Kuwait Fund, after Guyana submits a proposal based on a feasibility study, Mr. Jagdeo told reporters here.
The President said then, that extensive discussions in Kuwait also covered strengthening relations between the private sectors of the two countries.
The Foreign Ministry here said that during the Prime Minister’s visit, the two countries will sign agreements covering bilateral trade, economic and technical cooperation, establishment of a joint commission, and the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital.
The agreements will be signed after talks between the Prime Minister and President Jagdeo and their delegations at the Office of the President in Georgetown tomorrow afternoon.
The Kuwaiti PM is on a tour of Latin America and the Caribbean, and arrived late Friday in Havana, Cuba.
Mr. Jagdeo said that talks with the Emir of Kuwait and some of his officials in January were on a debt Guyana contracted with Kuwait since 1975, and which has grown to more than US$50M.
Based on Guyana’s commitments through Paris Club minutes, he said this country is required to seek comparable treatment from other non-Paris Club creditors, which means seeking, at a minimum, 85 per cent reduction on the net present value of the debt.
But Kuwait has argued that it has some complications with extending that treatment, and discussions over the years have been bogged down because of the differences in these positions, Mr. Jagdeo reported.
He said the two countries have agreed to continue these discussions later this year, possibly at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington in September.
“This is a major issue for Guyana as we move towards clearing up the debts of the past. Already, our debt profile is a very sustainable one, but we need to remove the last vestiges of the old debt so that we can continue to build a viable debt strategy in the future,” he said.
The visit by the high-level Kuwait team has resulted from Guyana’s move to explore investment and other opportunities in the Middle East.
This thrust has seen Iran agreeing to deploy its world-class geo-scientific techniques to help Guyana accurately map its mineral wealth deposits. An Iranian mission has begun working with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission in this area.
Iran, in addition, will provide Guyana with a US$1.5M grant for the health sector, the President reported.
The President last year visited the Middle East, and has argued that Guyana’s economic diplomacy will move from an emphasis only on North America and Europe to one that emphasizes Brazil, China, India, and other new emerging markets and the Middle East, which is a large exporter of capital.
Guyana will be beefing up its diplomatic and economic relations facilities in the Middle East, he said then.
After an official visit to Libya last year, Mr. Jagdeo announced that Guyana is looking to tap into the billions of dollars available there and in other Middle East countries interested in investments overseas.
He said Libya is interested in investments in agriculture, and value-added products in forestry and mining, but this has to be advanced.
Middle East investments are also likely in tourism and other areas, he said.
“We have to open new frontiers for investment”, he said.
“We have to be aggressive at the world level to raise money for this country,” he said, pointing to the possibilities of huge inflows of investment finance from the growing carbon trading market.
“We have to constantly be on the move…we have to look at how we will fashion the new economy,” he added.