–Indian Foreign Affairs Minister says countries’ growth presents unique opportunity for mutual advancement

India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, reinforced India’s commitment to being a supportive partner to Guyana, as the two nations continue to accelerate relations both at the public and private business levels.

Dr. Jaishankar made the remarks as he delivered an address at a Business Roundtable event held on Saturday at the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre in the capital city.
The event is part of a number of activities for Dr. Jaishankar’s official three-day visit to Guyana; he is accompanied by a business delegation from India, which includes the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

With India and Guyana undergoing massive growth to their economy, the unique position for the two countries to leverage their fast-paced development and be mutually beneficial to each other was highlighted.

“As Guyana embarks on this exciting journey in its quest for prosperity and development, there is a strong interest on India’s part to be part of this journey,” Dr. Jaishankar noted.
Remarks at the forum surrounded how governments from the two nations could work to translating their strong relationships into strong private sector partnerships.

Marking the first time an Indian Foreign Minister has come to Guyana, Dr. Jaishankar described the visit as a very important one.

“For me, this has obviously been an important visit, politically, there’s a lot discussed in terms of how we see the world and work with each other. We take satisfaction in the new areas that have opened up in Guyana. We would like to be as supportive as we can.

“This is not normal business, it is one between the fastest growing economy in the world, and the fastest growing major economy in the world, there is an enormous change in both our economies, both our societies, in our capabilities, and the challenge for policymakers. Like us is, how do we see that as an opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd and Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh reiterated the government’s position that “Guyana is open for business” as they spoke of the important role they see bilateral relationship and private sector connections with India playing in Guyana’s fast-pace development.

“We’re opened for business and want to do business with India because there’s a lot of trust, friendship and partnership. We will continue to work at the policy level to ensure that we are proactive that we respond in good timing to your needs and continue to ensure interconnection between policy makes and business leaders,” Minister Todd commented.

He emphasised that the Guyana government has been doing a lot to ensure there is confidence and predictability at the political level, and will provide incentives to ensure that there is a balanced business environment.

“The landscape has been provided, there is access on either side. We are working on ensuring we have the right structure to allow for seamless flow and connectivity. So, we don’t have to worry about the distance anymore. We’re going to put all systems in place to ensure business environment here in Guyana is fair, has predictability and that you as business leaders can enjoy a very productive business environment in Guyana,” the Guyanese Foreign Minister noted.

Adding to Todd’s comments was Dr. Singh, who pointed out that doing business in Guyana has a number of advantages for Indian companies.

“Guyana presents a great opportunity for Indian businesses looking to establish a presence or expand a presence in this hemisphere. We believe that it is extremely timely and opportune that this delegation of the Indian private sector would have visited Guyana. If we are to harvest the advantages associated with early movers, the move has to be made now,” the Finance Minister said.

Also speaking at the event were CII Chairman, Jaidev Shroff, and Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr. K J Srinivasa.
During Saturday’s roundtable, a number of bilateral agreements were signed.