THE Government of Guyana in collaboration with the US EXIM Bank held a roundtable discussion at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre to address access to financing and US EXIM Bank products for the private sector.

This initiative follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and the bank during President, Dr Irfaan Ali’s visit to Washington back in July.

Delivering his remarks at the engagement on Thursday, President Ali related the government’s commitment to elevating the private sector and emphasised that they should make the most of the opportunity by thinking outside the box.

“The role of the government is to do exactly this… we are to open the doors and create an environment in which the local private sector can grow and prosper, and that is exactly what is being created here, an opportunity for you to reach out to EXIM at a very high level and for you to participate and partner with EXIM and US companies… in the direction in which the economy would want to go,” the Head of State said.

Addressing the multitude of American and Guyanese business owners, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh highlighted Guyana’s transformative trajectory and pointed to the expectations of more US partnerships to advance Guyana’s development.

“Guyana is open to business to the world… this is literally the most incredibly transformative and exciting time in Guyana’s history. There are a few countries if any, that would’ve gone through as rapidly and as steeply as Guyana is currently undergoing. We would like to see more US companies present in Guyana and playing a part in that transformation,” Dr Singh said.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch noted that the US is Guyana’s main commercial partner.

She also promoted US businesses as beneficial partners for Guyanese, pointing out that the largest US trade delegation in history is currently in the country.

Lynch encouraged businesses to maximise the opportunities.

“As Guyana’s largest trading partners, US companies want to make deals. As one of the fastest- growing economies in the world, the Guyanese want to make deals,” she said.

The main purpose of the engagement was to explain how the export credit agency works and how Guyanese businesses could benefit from their financial assistance.

Meanwhile, Acting Senior Vice-President of the Office of Small Business at the US EXIM Bank, Tamara Maxwell, spent a great deal of her presentation highlighting the bank’s services and its role as regards Guyanese businesses seeking to expand their partnerships to the US.

She also announced that special emphasis will be placed on Guyana at the US EXIM Bank.

“We need to create a Guyana team at EXIM Bank simply because we saw all of the opportunities and we met with a lot of businesses, so we are going to create a team who are only going to handle Guyana authorizations applications so that you’re not waiting for anyone to call you back… and they’re committed to making sure that the transactions coming from Guyana are not missed,” Maxwell said.

Early next year, US EXIM Bank Chairman, Reta Jo Lewis is expected to visit to create further partnerships with Guyana. (DPI)