– President Ali tells Global Investors Summit
-says Guyana has many investment opportunities to offer India

WITH Guyana well positioned to become a regional and world leader in climate, food security and energy services, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, on Wednesday, called on the business community in India to make the most of the many investment opportunities that are currently being carved out in this part of the world.

The President shared this invitation as he delivered remarks at the inaugural session of Global Investors Summit in Madhya Pradesh, India.

“With our geographic positioning we have the capability and the opportunity not to be a player but to be a leader in food production and food security for the region in which Guyana sits and we invite the Indian private sector to look at this opportunity that gives them access to a market of more than 400 million people,” he said.

“We have all the investment vehicle tools that you have here. And we are ready to deploy it so that you can position yourself in a new market that offers exciting opportunities. Our global strategy must see this integration,” President Ali added.

The Head of State attended the event along with a delegation from Guyana’s private sector. According to the President, on a per capita basis, Guyana has one of the largest delegations in attendance at the event.

President Dr. Ali’s attendance at the event is part of a seven-day official visit to India.

He described the forum as the coming together of many companies to create a win-win environment, in which partnerships can be built, particularly through the forming of consortiums.

The President commended the Indian private sector for having established some of the most transformative companies in the world that have created a global footprint and proven to the world how successful they are at what they do, he further commended the Government of India for providing an enabling, conducive environment that allowed for this growth.

“We ought to applaud the Indian private sector for the role they are playing in world development. But none of this could have occurred without the right ecosystem to stimulate the investment and growth, and that is where the role of good governance and good policy making come in. We must applaud the Government of India,” President Ali said.

“India is demonstrating to the world with innovative technology, human resource transformation, good policy and strong global leadership that they are ready and willing to lead in this revolution. It is in that context that this investment forum is critical for us.”

The President declared that with the resource that is now available in Guyana, this government similarly intends to position Guyana as a global leader in many areas, and to transform Guyana’s society and people. As such, with similar trajectories, the two nations can have a marriage of the private interest in stimulating growth advancement and business opportunity.

“Here in this great state there are opportunities for even our local private sector to participate. And we are working with the Chief Minister and his government in outlining a clear definitive strategy in an MoU in areas of co-operation that we want to work out with the state in building. All of it must be driven by the private sector supported by strong signalling from the government of India, this state and the government of Guyana,” President Dr. Ali said.

“When you look at the goals that we want to achieve, we have a clear match of strategies and a clear match of policies that gives the private sector the level of predictability and comfort that they require to make long-term investment.”

He called on the private sector in Guyana and the private sector in India to build partnerships and consortium to unlock the potential that exists within the country.

According to the President, leadership is needed to develop an ecosystem that can also affect the world with the right environment and policy framework, and he believes India is aptly positioned to provide this leadership.

“The industry leaders who are here must look at establishing a new framework through which you can create this new leadership. Today there is a need for a new global investment order that seeks to create a win-win situation between states, that seeks to harmonise strategies and policy making, that seeks to have greater market integration, that seeks to have greater people integration, that seeks to create a more balanced compatible policy environment. And one in which we can match our strategies of development,” the President said.

Dr. Ali noted that with the Caribbean region requiring services such as financial, human resource, hospitality, health services and educational services, India is aptly positioned to provide these services to support the people.

“I invite you to look at the opportunities as it exists in positioning yourself as the strongest player in providing human resource capacity capability and competence in servicing the industries in the region.

According to President Ali, India and the Caribbean region share similar aspirations in technology, food production, energy security, human resource development, natural resource, climate change security, and Guyana is advancing itself to be an important cornerstone in all of these areas.

He spoke on Guyana’s recent achievement of its sale of 30 per cent of its jurisdictional carbon credit to Hess Corporation, the first and largest deal on the global market for carbon credit, placing Guyana as a leader in the world of climate services given out vast forest which stores 19.5 gigatonnes of carbon.