— President urges business community to invest now

GUYANA is on a transformational path with major development unfolding, and according to President, Dr Irfaan Ali, the time to invest in the country is now.
The President made this pitch at the launch of International Building Expo 2022 on Wednesday. He said the journey ahead for the country is a very exciting one and requires everyone to play their part.

“The time is now, the moment was yesterday, so we have already missed the moment. To those international investors, I would tell you quite frankly, if you don’t invest in Guyana in the next year, it will be too expensive for you after that,” said President Ali.

He added: “This is the year of opportunity; this is the year of catalysing your opportunities and making use of the development paradigm.”
The Head of State also told the audience that the government has seen a shift in the banking sector with the government receiving letters from banking institutions to finance projects and infrastructure works at good rates.

This, he said, underscored the shift in thinking, even as he reiterated that the level of thinking in the country needs to change to reflect the scale of operations currently taking place and will take place.
The President Ali also related that while visiting his home village not too long ago, he saw drastic changes with a new mall being constructed, a new hospital nearing completion and even recreational parks underway.

“This is the story all across Guyana. The hub and spoke development effect is starting to take shape, where you have centres — development centres occurring naturally and that is when you know that something is going on right.”

These projects, he said open doors for major investments and gave the example of the recent opening of the Mandela to Eccles four-lane highway.
The President noted that since its opening, in less than a week, there has been an influx of requests and proposals from a number of businesses and even individuals for lands there.

“That is the effect of transformative infrastructure; transformative infrastructure is something that is alive, it gives life to other things,” President Ali said.
He went on to say that there is lots of thought behind these projects as he added that when thousands of acres of land are opened, thousands of persons will gain employment.