–renowned UAE company engages authorities on potential in tourism, other sectors

THE Government of Guyana will soon advertise for Expressions of Interest for luxury-branded eco-tourism facilities, as it moves to further enhance the tourism and hospitality sector.

This plan was revealed by Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Oneidge Walrond during a virtual engagement with Maan Halabi, Managing Director of the Al Habtoor Group LLC, located in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Spearheading the meeting for Guyana was Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, who was joined by Minister Walrond and representatives of the local private sector.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Finance, the virtual engagement with the company was a follow-up to meetings first held in Dubai during a visit by President Dr. Irfaan Ali and a team of government ministers for the Dubai 2020 Expo.

The Al Habtoor Group is one of the UAE’s most respected and successful businesses that not only provides engineering and construction services, but also operates in the hospitality, automotive, real estate, education and publishing sectors, with vast investments in tourism.

During President Ali’s visit to Dubai, the Al Habtoor Group had expressed interest in expanding its global footprint in the tourism properties market.

For this reason, the government continues to court the group into taking up available investment opportunities in the hotel and resort industry here, or partnering with local private sector investors to expand the industry.
Dr. Singh said that there is great potential for the group to invest in Guyana, particularly in the tourism sector.

The opportunities include investments in new flagship hotel projects, partnerships with existing investors currently developing hotel projects, and the establishment of large-scale nature-based tourist resorts.

Dr. Singh further said that the tourism sector is poised for rapid expansion in Guyana, so it is attractive to international investors like the Al Habtoor Group, which already has a global footprint of premium flagship hotels worldwide.

Speaking more about the local tourism industry and the potential that exists, Minister Walrond said: “The tourism industry in Guyana, even before the COVID-19 period, had started to gain international acclaim recognition especially for eco-tourism.

With the advent of the oil-and-gas sector and that attention, we also began seeing increased interest with just visitors and businesses for the oil-and-gas sector, so one of the good problems that we have so far in Guyana is that we have the need for good quality rooms.”

She further related that within a month of the government being in office, Expressions of Interest were sent out for internationally-branded hotels to be built in the country, since one of Guyana’s premier hotels, the Marriott, is currently fully booked until January 2022.

Minister Walrond said that there has already been sod-turning exercises for a number of new additional hotels, with two having taken place close to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA). The aim is to have at least 2,000 hotel rooms available for visitors.

Former President of the Guyana Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Mitra Ramkumar said he believes that the tourism industry in Guyana had already taken off even before the advent of oil and gas.

And although this is the case, he believes that Guyana could learn much from the UAE on how its tourism industry could be a spin-off from the oil-and-gas sector, especially since Guyana has pristine rainforests, a diversity of people, beauty and nature, as well as vast lands for development and investment.

It was only on Friday last that Minister Singh hosted another meeting among His Excellency Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre (DMCC) and his team, and Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat, and Minister Walrond, along with other private sector key stakeholders within the agriculture, and gold and diamond mining sectors.

At the meeting, the local stakeholders related to the DMCC that Guyana has the capacity for the large-scale production of many agricultural commodities such as soya bean, ginger, corn, rice, coconuts, eddoes, cassava and plantains, which could be exported to Dubai.

It was emphasised that with Dubai being a major global commodity trading hub, Guyana stands to gain access to wider markets for its products. Meanwhile, other investment opportunities were noted, such as those in the forestry and mining sectors.

Upon hearing about those investment opportunities, the DMCC then expressed interest in learning more about Guyana’s agricultural and mining potential for commodities such as coffee, cocoa and rare earth minerals.
The Guyanese representatives from both the public and private sectors responded by saying that now is the opportune time for Guyana’s abundant resources to be transformed into wealth for the prosperity of all citizens.