SENIOR Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, has met with President and Chair of US Export-Import (EXIM) Bank, Reta Jo Lewis, along with several vice-presidents and senior officials of the bank in Washington DC to examine the wide range of opportunities in Guyana that the bank can support.

According to a release, the US is a key development partner, demonstrated through its strong economic ties in the area of Trade and Official Development Assistance and linked through a large Guyanese Diaspora in the US. The meeting provided another opportunity to promote economic ties as Guyana continues to build and strengthen co-operation with the US.

The US Export-Import Bank is the official export credit agency of the US federal government. Operating as a wholly-owned federal government corporation, the bank “assists in financing and facilitating US exports of goods and services”.

With Guyana now being an oil producer and exporter, the country now has access to new opportunities and potential resources that can accelerate this transformation. The country has seen significant interest by international investors in oil and gas, as well as in other productive sectors

Minister Singh expressed his appreciation to the bank for the interest shown and reiterated that Guyana values its relationship with the US and more particularly with institutions like the EXIM Bank. The officials discussed opportunities with regards to financing for both public and private sector projects, with particular interest in the infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, climate services, digitisation and ICT as well as the non-oil extractive sectors.

The release pointed out that both teams have expressed a willingness to conduct further meetings with the aim of fostering closer collaborations between the EXIM Bank and the Government of Guyana as well as the private sector organisations and companies of both countries.

Minister Singh is currently attending a series of meetings in Washington, on the occasion of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring and Annual Meetings.

He is accompanied by Zulfikar Ally, Deputy Chief of Mission, Guyana Embassy in Washington DC. Also attending the meeting were other senior officials of EXIM, the release noted.