A FORMAL working relationship with Brazil is something that Guyana had really been dragging its feet on for quite a long time, according to former Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Captain Gerry Gouveia. The local businessman this past week weighed in on the recently concluded high-level negotiations with the Brazilians, done at the Guyana International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, on the lower East Coast.

Those talks focused centrally on the development of a deep water harbour in Guyana, a hydro-electric power station with transmission lines, and the long-talked-about road to Brazil.

“When this high-level delegation came (and) planned this trip to Guyana, we were excited,” Gouveia disclosed, adding that the Private Sector “can’t wait for it translating into action.”
He noted that business is currently being done between the two countries, but posited that when relations at this level are formalized, an exponential increase in relations would be catalysed.

Captain Gouveia suggested that with the road and harbour in place, traffic would certainly increase between the two countries, and this would inevitably lead to mutual development, with lands being opened up for housing and agriculture, among other initiatives.       

“The operationalising of these discussions is excitedly being waited on by the private sector,” Gouveia declared.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of talks between Guyana and Brazil, this past week at the Guyana International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh had reminded that, for years, the two countries had recognized the potential for mutual benefit that exists in their collaboration; and that, for many years, Brazil’s potential as an economic giant has been celebrated, but is now being manifested clearly, with that country “taking its rightful place among the economic giants of the world.”

He credited much of the growth in the global economy to the dynamism of countries like Brazil. “Had it not been for countries like Brazil, the performance of the world’s economy would have been dismal,” Dr Singh posited.

Guyana and Brazil, this week, formally opened negotiations for several local large-scale infrastructure projects. The visit of the Brazilian team, comprising representatives of its energy, finance and investment sectors, among others, comes on the heels of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked by Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and her Brazilian counterpart, Antonio Patriota, paving the way for the discussions.

A formal report, with concrete proposals and deadlines for implementation coming out of the talks, will be presented to the Presidents of Guyana and Brazil by June 30.

The Guyanese team to this engagement is led by Executive Secretary of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Mr. Winston Brassington, and includes officials of the Ministries of Public Works, Local Government, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) among others.