FOREIGN direct investment continues to be made in Guyana despite the current state of political affairs, with two massive investments being announced on Wednesday alone.The two investments at reference are a GY$1B investment by Rubis Guyana Inc. to increase local fuel supply, and Exxon Mobil’s ploughing US$200M into offshore oil exploration here.

As Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon observed on Wednesday, this could be credited to the wide-ranging stakeholder engagement that is ongoing since Monday’s prorogation of Parliament.
President Donald Ramotar announced his decision, in an address to the nation, to prorogue Parliament, which essentially means that the current session is suspended up to a maximum of six months – a move that is provided for in Section 70 (1) of Guyana’s Constitution.

According to Dr Luncheon, there will be an awareness campaign for the public, whereby Government will inform citizens and stakeholders on their positions as the discourse continues.
He stressed that the involvement of the public and stakeholders will be an enormous complement to “dialoguing” with the parliamentary Opposition – the primary reason for the President’s decision to move to prorogation.
Meanwhile,Prime Minister Samuel Hinds in an invited comment on Wednesday, told the Guyana Chronicle that Guyana maintains an open-door policy as it relates to investments.
“There is the accusation that we prefer Asian investments; and there have been all kinds of innuendos to support this false reasoning, but the evidence is clear that we welcome all investors; we welcome investors that can do something for our mutual benefit. We have an open-door policy on foreign direct investments,” he said.
Additionally, the mid-year report on the performance of the local economy indicated that despite the challenges facing global and regional economies, as well as the new political situation locally, Guyana has been able to record a 3.2 percent growth in the economy.
The Guyanese economy has experienced eight consecutive years of growth, up to 2013, and is projected to expand by a further 5.6 per cent by the end of 2014.