President Jagdeo’s New Year Message…
-Together we aspire; together we can achieve
Pull quote: ‘As we consolidate our democracy, we must equally promote internal cohesion. Hate and prejudice should have no place in our body politic. Our people have lived well together, and we have made greater strides under a democratic system’
Fellow Guyanese,
AS WE ENTER a New Year, Guyanese at home and abroad are coming together. Whether you are at church, at a party, among friends, sharing a meal with others, or simply at home with your family, I bring you best wishes for health, happiness and success in this New Year. The observance of the birth of a New Year is a time-honoured tradition. And whenever we assemble to be part of such traditions, our unique Guyanese spirit always comes to the fore. This was very much the case during the recent Christmas period, when there was an outpouring of generosity, and especially a willingness to share what good fortune life has gifted us, even when that fortune was limited. Hospitality, compassion, generosity, industriousness, and our resilience to pursue ambition in the face of adversity are some of the unchanging bedrock values that define us as Guyanese.
But although these values are timeless, they are being applied in a fast-changing and deeply inter-connected world.
Therefore, our ability to shape our nation and influence the direction of the world should provide thought for reflection at this time. The future continued wellbeing of our country depends on our ability to make the most of the advantages presented by the modern world. Grasping these advantages requires boldness, sustained courage, and the ability to move beyond being mere passive and peripheral participants. It requires identifying how we can surmount our limitations and shape a self-determined future in a way that creates new opportunities for all our people.
We can justifiably feel proud of the progress achieved in 2010 and over previous years. As so many of our sisters and brothers visiting from overseas after an extended absence have commented, today’s Guyana is unrecognizable from the Guyana of yesteryear. Vast new communities have emerged in recent years, allowing tens of thousands of Guyanese the dignity of becoming homeowners. Areas like Diamond/Grove have been transformed from small rural villages to rapidly growing semi-urban residential and commercial centres, and the resultant economic and commercial activity has contributed in no small part to our vibrant economy. Even in our older urban centres, landscapes are being transformed with modern buildings, including shopping malls and amenities, previously unimaginable.

The evidence of this transformation is visible across our society. The Berbice River Bridge, the new warehouses in Lethem that reflect deeper economic ties with Brazil, the National Stadium at Providence, the International Convention Centre, the CARICOM Headquarters, the Berbice Campus of the University of Guyana, and the soon-to-be-commissioned Olympic–standard swimming pool at Liliendaal are all examples of the physical changes that have taken place, which bring with them a whole new range of services to our people.

In the social sector, better educated citizens who are free and able to make choices about their lives, citizens who live longer and healthier lives, women and children with an increasing strong set of protections against violence, and a democratic system that is increasingly entrenched in our political culture, all represent how transformation impacts positively on the fabric of our nation and on the wellbeing of our citizens.

All of this has been achieved against the background of an unswerving commitment to strengthening our domestic economy. For the first time in decades, our country is unshackled from unimaginable levels of indebtedness. Our external reserves are today at their highest level ever, and three times what they were five years ago. Other key macro-economic indicators are solid. Inflation is under control and our currency is underpinned by long- term stability. Our fiscal deficit has been reduced to sustainable levels, private sector credit has expanded and real gross domestic product has increased uninterruptedly over the past five years despite the dramatic challenges presented by the global financial and economic crises and the effects of the debilitating cuts to the European price for our sugar. 

These macro-economic fundamentals may seem somewhat abstract, but they form the basis for the progress we have made for almost two decades. They have enabled the investments which have created opportunities for individuals, families and businesses. They are responsible for the exponential expansion in our housing stock; they explain why our financial sector was able to reduce the cost of borrowing. They are the reason why we were able to build new national infrastructure to improve the lives and provide economic opportunities to thousands. And they provide the basis for us to continue investing in education, health, water and security and to provide increased support to youth, single-parents, pensioners and other vulnerable groups.
This combination of solid economic performance and visionary investment in our country’s future has provided us with the transformational progress we have seen over the past decade, advances which could not have been realized without a profound belief in the resilience and fortitude of you the Guyanese people, and especially your remarkable ability to confront and overcome daunting challenges.
Throughout the past decade, negative voices have screamed from the sidelines that we were not up to the challenge. They were wrong. And now those voices say that Guyana is not ready for the next wave of development. They are still wrong. My belief in the Guyanese people’s ability to rise to these challenges is as strong as it has ever been.
I believe that we now have a choice. We can restrict our vision to consolidating past gains and to build incrementally on them. Or we can set our sights high and deliver transformational progress without allowing our ambition to be constrained by those who see only problems.
Over the next decade, we can create a new Guyana with high-quality infrastructure, and catalyze new economic sectors while providing global leadership. We can create a Guyana that will see ever greater numbers of overseas-based Guyanese returning home to contribute to national development; a Guyana where the quality of education allows our students to compete with the best graduates from anywhere in the world; and where our athletes can train in top-class facilities at home.
Within our reach is a society in which our private sector is defined by innovation, and a relentless ability to make the most of new technologies.  We can lead the world in solving climate change and the preservation of bio-diversity. We can shape a Guyana in which violence against our women and children becomes more widely acknowledged as immoral and unacceptable, thereby reducing the incidence of such abuses.
The outlines of this new Guyana are taking shape. If the Berbice Bridge, better housing, education and health are examples of the transformational change from the last two decades, the first set of examples of the next wave of change are becoming visible. The fibre-optic cable currently being laid from the border with Brazil and other investments made by telecommunication firms will provide world-class digital connectivity to the opportunities of the global economy.
New economic sectors are growing rapidly, such as business process outsourcing which now provides many Guyanese with valuable new employment. Within the next few weeks, we will begin the procurement of some 30,000 laptops to allow our citizens, including the poor, to become part of the digital age. This is just the first installment of a two-year programme to distribute 90,000 such units, thereby ensuring a computer in every home.
Internationally, we are no longer passive followers in big global issues. Nowhere is this more obvious than in our leadership on climate change. We have the world’s second largest forest protection deal. Our prestige and standing within the global climate change debate, belies our country’s size, and historic marginalization in global affairs. We are leading changes to the global multi-lateral institutions where far larger countries are looking to us to create globally relevant solutions. We now hold the Presidency of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

Fellow Guyanese,
As we assume a higher profile internationally, we are also modernizing our own financial system in order to balance our embrace of globalization with the now evident need for homegrown protections against globally immoral financial manipulations.
It is possible for us to prosper in this globalized environment without destroying the timeless values I spoke of earlier. We can create the new Guyana, while solidifying our democratic traditions and processes. In this New Year, we can use the electoral process to demonstrate the primacy of the Guyanese people in deciding who should govern them. I am confident that, as was the case in 2006, that we will ensure elections that meet international standards, and which will exemplify our maturity as a member of the democratic fold of nations.
As we consolidate our democracy, we must equally promote internal cohesion. Hate and prejudice should have no place in our body politic. Our people have lived well together, and we have made greater strides under a democratic system.
In this New Year, we will continue to expand the range of economic activities so that more jobs can be created, and our people can all enjoy a higher standard of living, while forging a united, free and harmonious society. This balance between a deep grounding in the values which have served us well over time and our relentless, unstoppable energy to make the most of the opportunities of the future is the hallmark of the new Guyana that is inexorably unfolding.
We should feel satisfied about how far we have come; we should equally feel optimistic about how much we can still achieve together. Let us therefore, in the New Year, work together to bring continued social progress and prosperity to our beloved country.
Thank You!