‘Investors don’t have to secure meetings to submit proposals’
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, in the presence of President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, addressing a press conference in New York on Friday last
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, in the presence of President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, addressing a press conference in New York on Friday last

–Jagdeo says that expectation is irksome

VICE President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo believes that it is irksome for potential investors to always expect a physical meeting before submitting their proposals for investments, especially within the context of a global pandemic.

“We’re not thinking about physical offices, but more services to people,” Dr. Jagdeo told a press conference hosted in New York on Friday last.

Appearing alongside President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, Jagdeo sought to respond to a concern raised by a member of the diaspora that an overseas-based Guyanese businessman did not submit his investment proposal due to the fact that he was unable to meet with the Head of Guyana’s Office for Investment (Go-Invest), Peter Ramsaroop.

The Vice President rubbished the excuse that the lack of a physical meeting should prevent persons from submitting their proposals. As a matter of fact, he described the expectation as being irksome.

“How can a person, because he doesn’t meet the head of an office, not even deposit his proposal and say, ‘Here is what I want to do, can you advise me,” the Vice President questioned. He said pointedly, too, that people who wish to submit proposals to invest in Guyana’s development need not meet with Mr. Ramsaroop before doing so.

“If you have an office, you don’t have to meet the head of the office every time, because he is busy too. You deposit your proposal; say I’m interested. You have staff there. You meet with the staff,” Dr. Jagdeo said.

He added, “The foreigners can come and do this every day and they are moving ahead with their projects, and they go through that mechanism.”

He explained that the intention is to ensure that the continuation of important services do not rely on the presence of people, but by the efficient functioning of systems. “Sometimes, our people, they need personalised attention,” Jagdeo surmised.

He indicated that the need and expectation for physical attention might not be wise, since Guyana is working to strengthen its service delivery systems to ensure that it is not reliant on just a few persons.

“What we are trying to do is to make the system work so persons do not need to seek individuals to get help; you can get help from the system. That is the only way it becomes sustainable in the long run,” Jagdeo said.

Currently, the advent of the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a technological shift in the way services are provided to Guyanese at home and abroad. Many of the services that once required long, physical lines, have now been modernised and can be accessed online.

Dr. Jagdeo also pointed to the fact that people, particularly the diaspora community, have to co-operate with the status quo and make better attempts to utilise the systems that have been carefully designed to serve.

“I hear sometimes more complaints than an attempt to use the system that is already there and others are using it to their advantage who come from the rest of the world,” Jagdeo posited.

The Vice President also encouraged Guyanese, especially those in the diaspora, to ensure that they do not allow a culture of complaining and making excuses to distract them from the billions of dollars worth of opportunities available for them to invest in.

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