At opening of International Housing Exposition
– Housing Minister expresses similar view
The Ministry of Housing conceptualised and sponsored historic International Building Expo 2010 has exceeded all expectations, probably even that of Housing Minister Irfaan Ali himself.
Last evening’s opening ceremony was well attended by an audience comprising members of the Diplomatic Corps, Prime Minister Sam Hinds and Ministers of the Government , members of the Private Sector, and members of the public, many of them new homeowners through the Government’s housing programme.
Under the theme: “Building Businesses and Communities”, the Expo showcased Guyana at its finest and, as Minister Ali pointed out, is meant to be complementary to GuyExpo.  Surpassingly expansive and creative – visitors said to international standards, the exhibits grabbed the attention of everyone who attended, especially the boardwalk display of replicas of various very impressive buildings.  Several low income houses, as well as the core house being provided free to poor families by the Government, were also on display, as well as materials and things ancillary to the construction sector.
Delivering the feature address President Jagdeo said that, in his opinion the Exposition will serve a useful purpose in moving the housing sector forward.  However, he said that the forum was not the place to talk about inputs market and construction materials, but for something more special – which is the fulfillment of the dreams of many persons, particularly those who do not yet own their own homes, or those who have the ambition to own a house but had difficulties in acquiring one.
He reflected on the post-Colonial period, when wealth was de-cumulated at the level of the country, of households, and also at individual levels and said that a country and its people cannot sustain dreams when there is sustained de-cumulated wealth, because then the country becomes indebted if it spends resources above its means, because that is what happened in Guyana’s case.  In that instance, said the President, a lack of ambition and a state of hopelessness then pervades the country.  He said that the Caribbean Conference of Churches visited this country when Guyanese were struggling to put food on the table and certainly could not think about accumulating savings to build homes.
According to the President, over the past several years Guyana has been making progress in the right areas because more and more today people can dream again and aspire to own things, and the Government has to play a supportive role in this movement toward wealth accumulation by its citizens because, ultimately, it is the people of the country who are going to create that wealth.
The President reminded his audience that his administration started a housing programme when the fiscal deficit was 25% of GDP, but that the money to develop house lots was found, which precipitated a wave of construction in the country.
While expressing appreciation to the corporate partners who have collaborated with the Government in many successful initiatives, the President urged that they expand their operations to facilitate greater output of local products, because only in this way would they sustain international market shares.
In his presentation Minister Ali reiterated that this historic EXPO is being used as a marketing tool to showcase where Guyana has reached in the construction sector and this country’s potential to expand its horizons beyond Guyana’s borders.
He encouraged the private sector that, apart from the industry’s consistent and steeply incremental contribution to national GDP, to take a holistic approach to marketing this country’s unique product lines, and said that this EXPO was conceptualized with the intention to facilitate that process.
Repeating that the concept of this International Housing Exposition was a result of a challenge issued by President Bharrat Jagdeo for the heads of ministries to be more visionary in strategizing for development processes within their portfolios, which has fructified in this strategic and practical approach to create linkages and forge partnerships with regional and international business partners, with the intention of eventually breaking into the overseas construction market in a large way, especially by winning major construction and re-construction contracts.
Lauding Guyana’s banking sector and the private sector for responding with promptitude and latitude to the several proposals Government has made to boost socio-economic endeavours, Minister Ali said that conjunctive projects have been greatly enhanced and accelerated with the partnerships that have been forged between Government and a largely receptive private sector; but he however urged that the time has come for a quantum leap in the construction sector, whereby entrepreneurial potentials are not constrained to national initiatives, but that horizons should be expanded beyond Guyana’s borders so that, apart from this Expo providing investment opportunities in products and services for Guyana’s Private Sector, as well as regional and international businesses, Guyana’s thrust to develop awareness of our national identity as a main player in the entrepreneurial world would gather momentum through such initiatives.
Because of the former state of the housing sector in Guyana, Government has been strenuously concentrating its efforts in the acquisition of lands and the allocation of house lots, and also in facilitating enabling mechanisms to potential homeowners to achieve their objective of building their homes in cost-effective ways.
However, Minister Ali exhorted Guyana’s private sector that the time is now for this country’s indubitably world-class companies that have been doing so well in Guyana to breach new frontiers by expanding their activities to incorporate new territories in their entrepreneurial endeavours, because Guyana’s industrialists have been manufacturing products to international standards of excellence, citing examples using comparative product lines and prices.
He also said that this Expo will also create partnerships with companies and consumers, which will prove of immense benefit to time-constrained new or potential homeowners, who do not have enough time during business hours to explore the goods and services that they can access to facilitate the construction of their homes, so the awareness of the multiplicity of available opportunities that exists for the various stakeholders will greatly assist their choices in their construction activities.
He lauded the massive response by companies, with either dir
ect or ancillary interest in the building industry, who are participating in this Expo, as well as the finance sector and the corporate entities that have partnered the Housing Ministry in this initiative.
He said, also, that Government wants local suppliers and developers to exploit and utilize the potential and opportunities presented by Guyana’s construction boom.
Also addressing the audience were Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Water, Mr. Emil McGarrel and Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Mr. Ramesh Dookhoo.