THE clinching of EU financial assistance for key areas of the Guyanese economy-hydropower and the sugar industry is a developmental landmark, as Guyana, under the Low Carbon Developmental Strategy (LCDS), is pushing ahead with the development of renewable sources of energy and is also working assiduously to return the sugar industry to viability and profitability.
“I regard today’s occasion as an extremely important and significant one, not only because it represents a significant milestone in the relationship between the EU and Guyana, that is to say the manifesting of the signing of these two agreements, but also given the fact that the two agreements that we are signing are in two areas that are so central to our national policy agenda,” Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh noted.
In the promotion of sustainable and climate friendly energy use, the EU had, recently, approved of the micro-hydropower development at a cost pegged at 2,455,797 Euros (about G$615M), with the EU contributing 1,841,848 Euros (nearly G$460M), under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) while the Guyana Government will contribute 613,949 Euros (equivalent to G$154M).
One of the laudable promises made by this government is that it intends to bring electricity to every home, but in Guyana’s context it is by no means an easy task. Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh pointed out: “We have said that we would like to bring electricity to every home in Guyana. We recognise that, given the geography of our country, it would be difficult to have a single national grid that will see the delivery of electricity to every home,”  adding that government has been seeking solutions, including renewable energy  mentioning distribution of solar systems to homes in the hinterland.
With respect to this particular hydropower project which will be located at Kato, in Region 8, the significance is much more than simply providing electricity to residents for domestic consumption because this is a region with tremendous agricultural potential capable of producing a variety of non-traditional crops. But because of serious logistical problems, it is not feasible for residents to venture into these crops at the moment. However, with the availability of electricity, an opportunity for getting into value-added products from these crops will present itself, thereby nullifying the transportation problem to get agricultural produce out of the region, as the shelf life of value added products will be much greater.
Therefore, a new agro-processing vista of opportunity will be opened, which in turn will create greater employment opportunities, diversifying agricultural production and strengthening the economic and commercial base of the communities.
With respect to the sugar industry, it is absolutely crucial that there is a turn around, because it is still a major pillar of the national economy and is the largest employer; therefore continuous reform and modernisation of this industry is an imperative rather than an option.

Dr Singh alluding to this, said: “We have long recognised the need to implement reforms in the sugar sector to achieve a competitive and viable sugar industry, and we have developed an action plan that involves a number of elements aimed at achieving a viable, competitive and profitable sugar industry in the long term.”
Towards that objective, he said, significant investments have been made in the industry and, over the last ten years, including the G$4 billion in the 2012 National Budget, Government would have invested in excess of US$200M, including the Enmore Packaging Plant; and a lot of this has been supported by the European partners.
These two financial agreements therefore will certainly boost the efforts of the government to bring electricity to every home and help to provide the much-needed reforms in the sugar industry, particularly in light of the massive cuts in the LCDS budget made by the parliamentary opposition through their combined one-seat majority.