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As President Ramotar observed: “This has certainly made a major contribution in the direction of broadening the economy and that is why we have been trying our best to lay the foundation to make Guyana attractive for investment.”
Noting that, in recent weeks, there has been a debate on the country’s education system, the Head of State said the best way to go is to educate people.
He agreed that, while there is no doubt about room for improvement, it has also come a very far way.
Ramotar pointed out that the problems experienced in the local education sector are not unique to Guyana but the Government has been tackling those issues by investing in people.
This significant investment definitely is a further expression of investor confidence in our economy which has been increasingly attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in recent years which has been noted by both the IMF and World Bank.
Guyana recorded another year of robust growth in 2011 supported by favourable external conditions, rising foreign direct investment and low inflation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reported.
The IMF in its latest assessment of Guyana, noted that following the general elections in November 2011, the political situation, though largely stable, became more complicated, but investor interest has remained strong and confidence generally positive.
In 2011, output expanded by 5.4 per cent, buoyed by increased activity in the gold, agriculture and services sectors. Twelve-month inflation was at 3.3 per cent in 2011, reflecting pressures from higher food prices later in the year.
The current account deficit weakened somewhat (from 9.9 per cent of GDP in 2010 to 13.6 per cent in 2011) due to a surge in oil and capital goods imports as a result of higher international oil prices and stronger investment.
IMF executive directors commended the authorities’ policies that have supported macroeconomic resilience and sustained growth.
With the exception of 2011 our economy has been attracting increasing FDI as figures from the IMF show. The drop in 2011 is understandable as it was an election year.
In 2004 FDI was US$30M followed by US$76.8M; US$102.4M; US$152.4M; US$168M; US$207.9; US$269.5M and US$165.3M.
The World Bank also was commendable of our economic performance noting Guyana weathered the effects of the recent global financial crisis very well when compared with other Caribbean countries or with the rest of the Latin American and Caribbean Region. While most economies in the Region contracted during the crisis years (2008-2009), the Guyanese economy recorded an average growth of 4%.
For 2011, the economy expanded by 5% up from 3.4% in 2010 and 3.3% in 2009. The economy is expected to expand by about 4% in 2012, reflecting increased activity in bauxite, gold, rice and the services sectors.
And perhaps had it not been the scare tactics of the political opposition and the cynics among us, FDI would have been even greater.
But this massive Qualfon investment and the facts and figures of the IMF and World Bank put to rest the negativism and gloom and doom being pedalled by the cynics and their associates.
The irony is, that the very people who are accusing the government of not creating employment have been working feverishly to scare away investors and by extension destroying opportunities for employment, as we have seen recently with the Amaila hydro project.
However, despite their desperate and best efforts to frustrate and stall development our economy continues to show impressive growth and continues to attract large investment. This Qualfon US$4M is testimony to that fact.
