– high-level mission from bank expected this month

TWO years after joining the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), a multilateral development financing institution, the Government of Guyana is moving to partner with other branches of the bank to foster greater development here.

In an interview on Friday, Finance Minister Winston Jordan told reporters that the Guyana Government has initiated intense discussions with other arms of the IsDB.

With a membership of 57 countries since its establishment in 1975, the IsDB has evolved into a group of five entities – the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB); the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI); the Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD); the Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC); and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).
Discussions with Guyana thus far has included collaboration with the ICD but Minister Jordan noted that it is a process.

“Now we are only members of the bank itself. Each one of the other arms requires membership similar to the membership you would try to get into the World Bank. The World Bank has an arm called IFC and you have to join that and subscribe to it; similarly, the Islamic Development Bank has a same arrangement, we have to subscribe,” the finance minister explained.

During his recent visit to the Middle East with Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson and a technical team, it was indicated that Guyana is not in a position to subscribe to the shares of the other institutions; however, it is hoped that in the future, the country would be in a better position to join the other sections of the financial institution.
The IsDB, however, according to Minister Jordan has expressed a willingness to assist Guyana in joining other institutions. A programming mission is expected from the Islamic Bank at the end of October.

“They are going to come to look at other areas that they can invest in Guyana. Previously, we spoke heavily about agriculture and agricultural diversification; we talked about public utilities, particularly electricity and renewable energy; we talked about roads and we also looked at rural development in the context of putting infrastructure, especially in the five new towns that we would have created. So they are going to come with a programming mission at the end of this month,” the finance minister explained. In December, a fact-finding mission is also expected to be conducted.

AGREEMENT SIGNED
During that visit to the Middle East last September, Minister Jordan signed a loan agreement with the IsDB for US$20M for major upgrades to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), as part of its Development and Expansion Programme for 2014 to 2021, as well as a US$900,000.00 grant agreement for the Reverse Linkage Project, which aims to enhance the stability and sustainability of Guyana’s rice sector.

The project seeks to diversify the rice sector with the production of new varieties of rice with an increase in rice exports.

The delegation also visited Kuwait with the intention of formally requesting a write-off of a decades-old loan. Minister Jordan explained that Guyana had borrowed approximately US$10 million from Kuwait in the 1970s; however, the amount has grown to more US$70 million because of interest.

The trip was part of a broader recognition that aims to develop and diversify Guyana’s economy, partnerships with overseas investors and lending agencies.

During the visit to Kuwait, former Prime Minister, His Highness Sheikh, Dr. Nasser Mohammed Al Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, who had visited Guyana on July 19, 2010, hosted a grand luncheon/banquet for 40 persons which included Ministers Jordan and Patterson; Donna Yearwood, Head, Debt Management, Ministry of Finance; Guyana’s Ambassador to Kuwait, Professor Dr. Shamir Ally; wife Dr. Maryann Beebe Ally; and 35 high-ranking Kuwait officials, including His Excellency Khaled Suliman AL-Jarallah, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was on the team to Guyana on July 19, 2010.

During the luncheon, Minister Jordan as head of the delegation, raised Guyana’s US$10 million debt incurred in 1973 to the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA). A special request was also made for a waiver of the accumulated US$64 million interest and a repayment schedule for the US$10 million loan. Both His Highness and the deputy foreign minister promised to pursue the relief for Guyana. Minister Jordan also mentioned the opportunities for Kuwait investments and for public/private partnerships in agriculture, business and education.