GUYANA is well positioned on the road to economic prosperity. Never before in our history were the prospects for a better life so apparent. The dream of a rich and prosperous Guyana has haunted the imagination of early explorers centuries ago, with the country once considered to be the famous El Dorado or City of Gold. The story was told of a “golden” king who anointed himself daily with gold dust, and who ruled in a city where the streets were paved with gold.

Many explorers were captivated by that desire to exploit the riches of Guyana, but with limited success.

This, it would seem, is our time. We may not be blessed with an abundance of gold, as once resided in the imagination of our early explorers, but we are fortunate to be well endowed with other riches. We have an abundance of fertile agricultural land, an unlimited supply of fresh water, large pristine forests, and yes, rich minerals, including gold, bauxite and manganese among others. And by no means least, a committed and resourceful population.

And now we have oil. For several decades, we cherished the hope of finding oil, only to have our hopes dashed. Thankfully, we have found oil in substantially large commercial quantities. And the oil is considered to be of premium quality, which is a further advantage from a marketing perspective.

A recent IDB report titled, ‘The Fragile Path to Recovery’, projected Guyana’s exports in all areas to increase exponentially to as much as US $8 Billion by 2024. This is no mean sum, especially when seen against current levels of export earnings, which stand at US$998.8 million in 2020.

According to the report, Foreign Direct Inflows (FDI) increased sharply over the past few years, a clear indication of the government’s forward-looking investment policies.

The oil revenues, as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Bulletin pointed out, will be the main driver of Guyana’s economic development in the coming years. Oil revenues, significant as it is, will, however, be supplemental to our revenue stream, even though our dependence on traditional income flows will be minimised. Apart from oil and gas, the services sector will also be a significant contributor to our GDP, which cumulatively will give the economy a big lift.

The economic prospects, as mentioned above, are good. We must not, however, take our developmental prospects for granted. We have to have a hunger for development and progress, which means that, as citizens, we have to not only embrace development but become an agent for change.

Unfortunately, there are some in our society who take on the role as forebearers of doom rather than as agents of change and development. Despite the promise of a better future staring them in the eyes, they continue, as it were, to see the glass as half empty rather than half full. Such pessimism is unhelpful and counterproductive, and certainly not in our best national interest.

We have to be thankful for our newly-found bounty. We must give credit where it is due, especially to our entrepreneurs in the oil and gas sub-sector to bring us to this point where our economic fortunes are much more secure than before.

We must also give credit to our policymakers for providing the facilitating environment for investor confidence, which is an essential prerequisite for investment in the country. In this regard, we have to thank our President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali; Vice-president Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo; and Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharat, along with our other developmental partners for creating the policy framework within which our development is unfolding.

This does not in any way mean that we should be less than vigilant in ensuring that we optimise the full benefits of our natural resources. In this regard, there is always room for constructive ideas and criticism. However, there are criticisms that are at times technically unsound, and motivated by a desire to score cheap political points.

As President Ali noted, there will be full transparency in the management of the oil sector, and the use of our petroleum income. So far, all of our income from oil is safely deposited in a National Resource Fund (NRF). According to the President, the NRF is critical to the safeguarding of our resources for future generations, even as the country has immediate developmental needs. Any dipping into such funds, however, will be subjected to parliamentary approval.

To facilitate such an eventuality, the government is in the process of crafting a new legislative framework to govern the use of such resources.

We have, as a country, turned the corner. Our best days are ahead of us. But we have to be careful that we do not do or say things that could undermine our economic prospects. We have to put country ahead of narrow partisan interests.