A FEW hallmarks of good leadership are foresight, consistency, and quick, strategic action. The announcement by President Irfaan Ali that visitors to Guyana will be allowed to use their international driver’s licences for 60 days without a permit must be grounded in a few scenarios which all relate to Guyana’s growth trajectory as a major player in petroleum, tourism, and sport.

Immediately, the move creates more business for car-rental services in Guyana. This newspaper reported at the beginning of this year that for 2021 alone, Guyana recorded 106,428 visitors to the country up to September 2021.

“In 2021, most visitors travelled to destination Guyana for holiday (64 per cent); business (12 per cent), and visiting friends and relatives (10 per cent), among other reasons (14 per cent).
So far, Guyana has earned approximately $24B (up to September 2021), based on the average expenditure per visitor per type at US$1,060,” the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA).

Visitors can enjoy some amount of independence moving around the country at their own pace which could ultimately result in increased transfer of income to small and micro-businesses along the routes to, and at major tourist destinations in Georgetown and elsewhere.

Guyana remains one of the world’s most lucrative investment destinations. Added to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s declaration earlier this year that Guyana’s economy remains resilient in the face of global economic tensions with a 47.2 per cent growth projection by the end of 2022, the country recorded positive economic growth on account of sustainable production in both oil and non-oil sectors, this newspaper reported in June 2022.

With the aggressive push of the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) to secure investors from around the world, including the Middle East, the country must position itself to sustain the momentum already built through good economic planning at the local level.

The influx of investors and the ease with which each they can do business transactions here, which might require their own modes of transportation, means increased prosperity for Guyanese.
Added to that, we must also consider the capacity of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) which handles drivers’ licensing and whether there is a more strategic way to ease off the burden from the GRA while, at the same time, building Guyana’s investor confidence by providing more options for the mobility of investors here.

With the recent action, considering the number of persons who would likely need drivers’ permits considering the economic and tourism activities in the country, and the fact that those will definitely increase over the coming years, this current amendment to the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act is planning for the future.

For the historic Caribbean Premier League (CPL) finals and Guyana’s inaugural Cricket Carnival which will both happen here in the coming months, the 2022 incoming visitors’ data would likely spike as local hotels are already reporting booked-out rooms.

Meanwhile, government is working to ensure that adequate, temporary housing is provided through encouraging citizens to open sections of their homes as Air B&Bs, or also through the initiative announced by President Ali earlier this year where 300 prefabricated houses will be built on lands set aside to accommodate CPL visitors. The revenue generated from that arrangement will go towards supporting local low-income, first-time home owners.

With the influx of visitors expected this year, the President’s announcement of the amendment to the driving laws, which creates greater leeway for visitors to use their official drivers’ licences from their countries of origin once those are issued by the official authority there and once those visitors can demonstrate their legal entry and permission to stay in Guyana, is timely, and, as noted earlier, a reflection of visionary leadership needed in an ever-growing Guyana.