OUR country is expected to see a significant boom in the economy and that will ultimately increase our ranks into becoming a developed country. Our recent discovery of oil has transformed our small third world country into one of the world’s promised lands of tomorrow. With oil, infrastructure is bound to expand and grow. We will not only see changes in our GDP as a country but we will also see massive changes in physical development and infrastructure. That’s a good thing. It’s great that Guyana’s landscape will be transforming. Nonetheless, at the same time, we need to also invest in our people.

Our human capital cannot be found on a paper written by a pen. It is an intangible asset or quality. In Economics, it can be classified as the value of a worker’s experience and skills. From valuable assets such as education, intelligence, skills and even health. In essence, a country’s human capital is vital for development. It also a useful tool to improve people’s incomes, an increase in skills and knowledge. Human capital can also be used to help combat social issues such as poverty.

While I do not want to be too technical with the economics of it all, I just want all of you to understand the importance of people and the investments we make into them (us). Human resources on a whole is of utmost importance for development. How can we want better and more schools without investing in our teachers? How can we build more hotels without training more managers?

What’s the point in encouraging students to attend the University of Guyana if there aren’t any jobs available for them in their fields after obtaining a degree? How do you encourage employment when the minimum wage is lower than the minimum cost of living?

Our people are just as important, if not more important than the infrastructure and tourism. I hope this article sheds some light on why we need to invest in ourselves first before moving forward with grand developmental plans. The conversations that surround development should always include their impact on people. The buildings can easily be dilapidated, industrial machinery can cease to work, industries change with eras but people—they’re here to stay. Without Guyanese, the commencement of such a boom would not have been possible to begin with. It starts and ends with us.