PRESIDENT David Granger has enlightened senior operatives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on the appropriateness of investing in Guyana and the Guiana Shield as a whole.He met on Saturday with Graham Watkins, Principal Environmental Specialist at the IDB; and Juan Pablo Bonilla, Manager of the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Sector of the IDB, on the sidelines of Conservation International’s Annual Board Meeting in Washington DC; and in an invited comment following that meeting, President Granger said, “The Guiana Shield is the single most important zone of biodiversity in the world today, and it is much better than anything you can find in Africa or Asia in terms of the richness of its biodiversity. So that’s a big plus; and, of course, Guyana is central.

“Despite its relatively small size in relation to Brazil and Venezuela, Guyana is a central part of the Shield… In terms of investment horizon, we impressed upon the bank that an investment in the Shield, an investment in Guyana, would be a good investment for (the IDB to make).”

With reference to potential investment areas, the President said the priority areas for Guyana are institution building — to strengthen Guyana’s institutional capability; and infrastructural development, particularly the generation of sustainable energy.

“We saw this as a part of a partnership with other states in the Guiana Shield, particularly Suriname and Cayenne,” the Ministry of the Presidency quoted the President as saying, in a release.

The IDB officials also identified agriculture and forestry as other areas of possible investment.

According to its website, the IDB’s 2012–2016 strategy is designed to help Guyana achieve continued economic growth, while at the same time promoting the sustainability of the country’s natural resource endowments.

Specifically, the strategy primarily seeks to support Guyana’s objective of achieving sustainable private sector-led growth by giving priority to investments that promote the sustainability of its natural resources through green investments.