A GINA Feature
IT is something any Government should be proud of economic growth. So the Government and people of Guyana have every reason to be proud and optimistic. Guyana has been witnessing economic growth for almost a decade now with almost every sector showing significant and steady increases.

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh, in a recent interview maintained that “this Government will continue to implement measures to ensure economic growth, well into the future.” The economic policies and practices of this government have attracted regional and international recognition St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, during a visit here, lauded Guyana’s housing programme. He emphatically stated that he did “… not know of any programme of this magnitude anywhere else in the Caribbean, in the Eastern Caribbean nor in the OECS.”
During his address, at the 32nd meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government conference in St Kitts and Nevis two years ago, Gonsalves said that Guyana “appears to be a bright growth prospect even amidst the global economic meltdown from September 2008 … (Guyana) has agricultural commodities to sell in which the country still has some competitive advantage… marine resources and gold… also Guyana has abundant hydroelectricity (potential).”

So Guyana has every reason to be proud and optimistic. Dr. Singh explained that notwithstanding the challenges encountered in the parliamentary process, and the inevitable consequences that these challenges have posed for the political and by extension the economic environment, Guyana still continues to experience economic growth.
The Finance Minister said recently that sustaining nine years of consecutive economic growth is not easy work, and that extending it remains high on the agenda of the PPP/C administration. Why? “We (the PPP/C) take very seriously our responsibility for ensuring that the economic environment in Guyana continues to be attractive,” he explained.
According to Dr. Singh, the local economy continues to be one which is conducive to attracting investors, both local and foreign. “We have pursued relentlessly the objective of ensuring that the conditions exist for steady improvement in the quality of life for all Guyanese.”
The Minister pointed out that Government’s policy is to provide the same incentives to local and foreign investors who are interested in investing in Guyana. “If you look across the spectrum, you’ll see a very strong track record of investors from every jurisdiction, responding to the environment that we have created. We have today companies (local and foreign) in the natural resources sector, in gold, in manganese, in bauxite and in new and emerging industries. In others words, regardless of whether the investor is local or foreign, this Government will support its investors.
Executive Director of the National Industrial Commercial Investments Ltd., (NICIL), Winston Brassington attested to the Minister’s sentiments. “We have been witnessing a lot of foreign investment and this itself is an indicator that the fundamentals to attract investment are in the right place.”
NICIL, a Government holding company that manages, monitors and develops Government assets and investments, work directly with local and foreign investors.
Examples of foreign direct investment are evident in the international companies that have chosen Guyana as their respective investment destination. Examples of such companies include Guyana Goldfields, a Canadian company and Troy Resources of Australia; Exxon Mobil and CGX, internationally recognised oil companies; Qualfon, a Mexican call service provider; and Massy Group of companies, one of the Region’s largest conglomerates.

Proud accomplishment
The Finance Minister noted that the nine years of consecutive growth were achieved despite non- support in the Parliament from the Opposition which can only be deemed as a concerted effort to stymie development.
He noted that Guyana could have achieved much more, had many pivotal projects such as the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Expansion not been obstructed by the Parliamentary Opposition.
In addition, the Minister noted that the global economic environment has also been faced with its own problems and has impacted many of Guyana’s trading partners negatively. Given these internal and external challenges, Minister Singh said Guyana’s economic performance is worth commending. “It is most commendable not just to Government, but indeed to the investors, the entrepreneurs, and the workers, all of whom have contributed to this growth.”  The Finance Minister noted that the economy was able to perform as well as it did because of investor friendly policies and prudent fiscal management by Government.
It was also noted that in recent years the banking sector has been able to provide more loans to more Guyanese and more banking locations as it recognises the growth of Guyana’s economy.

Foundation
Stressing that “economic growth is essential for improving the wellbeing of the people of Guyana,” Singh emphasised that Government will therefore continue to maintain policies, aimed at securing the country’s economic growth, notwithstanding the present and emerging challenges.
“There was a time when the economy was dependent on one or two key sectors, but the country is now at a point where it is sufficiently diversified to be resilient to shocks experienced by any individual sector,” the Finance Minister noted. Even though this is what now obtains, the Minister charged that Government will not become complacent, and will continue to work assiduously to ensure that the main sectors remain competitive and continue to expand.

Detractors
Expressing his belief that the Parliamentary Political Opposition is all about injuring the economy, Dr. Singh said that the political challenges cannot be ignored, “The Opposition has not been shy of flaunting its tactics for all and sundry to see, and these tactics have been aimed at scaring investors away, intimidating investors, (and even) threatening (them).”
He recalled when the Opposition went so far as to threaten that they would not honour contracts entered into with investors.
Singh then stressed that in a democratic environment, these ‘opposition actions’ are not deemed as acceptable behaviour, “since all leaders are supposed to act in the country’s best interest, regardless of which side they represent.”
Referring to the Anti-Money Laundering Bill, the Minister expounded that this was “the  starkest example” that the Opposition parties have made it quite clear, that they have no interest in the consequences of an adverse review by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) and the other external bodies that are responsible for reviewing Guyana’s  financial actions.

Resolve
Dr. Singh stated that the PPP/C Government will continue to place strong focus on the building of key infrastructural projects such as the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project, as “… these have the potential to cement the nation’s long prospects for economic growth.”
He further emphasised: “We (PPP/C) are persevering with Amaila … we continue to work with international partners … notwithstanding the Opposition’s attempts to stymie and stultify these projects (other transformational projects mentioned above), it is (still) very much our intention to ensure that these projects be realised”.