–to create avenues for more decisive collaboration on key projects, programmes

GUYANA and the United Kingdom (UK) have signed a new Economic Partnership Agreement(EPA) to further bolster the long-standing relationship between the two countries.

This agreement was signed at the Guyana Marriott Hotel on Wednesday, during a Guyana-UK partnership-arrangement meeting.

In his address at the meeting, President, Dr Irfaan Ali said that from this signing, there must be direct outcomes concerning partnerships between the UK and Guyanese businesses, and even between the two governments.

He said: “What we would like to see out of this mission, we would like to see direct outcomes and at least we should work on a vehicle that will take us to some possible outcomes.”

The Head of State added that since the previous trade mission from the UK visited earlier in the year, there has been tremendous, positive energy from the UK, from the government and also from Guyana in pushing the envelope to understand the developmental needs.

Guyana has been actively pursuing different models and opportunities; however, there are some key areas on which the government is heavily focused, which include technology transfer, the governance system, efficiency and more.

Considering the new developments and continuous work to enhance the economy, President Ali encouraged businesses from the delegation to invest in Guyana.

He marketed Guyana’s geographic location as a strong point for consideration among potential investors.

Sitting on the edge of South America, Guyana is slowly becoming the ideal passageway from the Caribbean to South America and vice versa. And this is supplemented by the country’s push to become a major industrial, manufacturing and agro-processing nation.

In addition to the country’s innate features, the government is also encouraging investments through the incentivisation of various sectors.

Dr Ali affirmed that the cost of investing in Guyana will increase consistently.

Meanwhile, His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jonathan Knott, told the gathering that after being in the country over the past few days, he would have heard of the vision of the government for Guyana and noted that the UK would like to be a part of that vision.

“We share your ambition for Guyana to build its capacity and capability; we share your vision for Guyana to be a hub for investment and Caribbean gateway. We would like to help you deliver that vision… British business would like to help you deliver that vision,” Knott said.

He related that their reason for being here in Guyana is to deepen ties between the two countries and further be able to guarantee the quality of support they are able to offer.

Knott related that the trade delegation will be looking across a range of sectors to see how they could support programmes and projects to further energise and execute the partnership.

He was hopeful that the two countries could establish a joint working group which will define and deliver a time-bound action plan.

“And I emphasise time-bound, because we like you, are anxious to make programmes possible. We expect that working group to deliver the innovation, the technology the knowledge which is needed to support faster, fairer and greener growth in Guyana,” Knott said.