MINISTER of Tourism Industry and Commerce (ag) Irfaan Ali said that last year Guyana recorded the highest expansion in domestic credit compared to other countries in the region. He was at the time speaking at the launch of GUYEXPO 2014 at the Guyana International Conference Centre.

Guyana achieved growth in domestic credit of 24.2 percent, compared to St. Kitts and Nevis (-23.4 percent), Trinidad and Tobago (-12.1 percent), Belize (0.8 percent), Antigua and Barbuda (-6.8 percent), Bahamas (1.7 percent), Barbados (11.3 percent), Jamaica (17.7 percent), and Suriname (21.4 percent).

“We have attracted an unprecedented level of foreign investments over the last seven years more than US0$1.5B. Last year, our domestic investment as reflected in the growth of loans and advances increased from $30.6B in 2006 to $82.6B. This means more persons are borrowing, more money is available for loans and more money is being spent in the economy,” Minister Ali said.

He lauded the large scale investments being made by the private sector and said that the transformation that is taking place is very dynamic and creating new opportunities for many businesses and citizens generally.

The Minister proudly spoke of the advertisements of Guyanese companies being aired on SportsMax during the recently concluded Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) Cricket Tournament.

“The only private sector representation in terms of advertisement came from Guyana and that’s a big message that was sent across the region about the transformation that is taking place in terms of the private sector in Guyana,” Minister Ali posited.

GUYEXPO, which is an event designed to boost the competitiveness of local private sector companies, kicks off on October 2 and runs until October 5 this year. It is being held under the theme, ‘Transformation: Partnering for a Better Guyana’. (GINA)