GUYANA is open for business was the clear message emphasised during the recent exchanges with the high-level Indian business officials visiting with their Foreign Affairs Minister, during which both sides agreed that the enormous commonalities between them can be leveraged for greater mutual benefits.

Senior Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, told the team (which included Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Chairman, Jaidev Shroff and Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr K J Srinivasa) that Guyana’s doors, shut tightly by the previous administration, are now again wide open for business, as especially with friendly partners.

Both sides see bilateral relationships and private sector connections enhancing Guyana’s fast-paced development, based on the abundance of trust, friendship and partnership between the two nations and people, linked historically, culturally and politically — and in their common economic development thrusts at home and abroad.

As developing nations, the two governments also share common values and visions, employing new approaches to old problems, without ditching old methods that still work in these new times.

Dr Singh welcomed the timeliness of their visit and assured the visiting investors that doing business in Guyana has numerous advantages for Indian companies looking to establish a presence here or in this hemisphere.

But he also made it clear that if the two nations are “to harvest the advantages associated with early movers,” they must start now.

Guyana and India have travelled very long ways along the development path since independence, as they negotiate the curves that come with new and unexpected changes in international trade and development cooperation.

Both have a common responsibility to navigate the seas, oceans and channels of international business and trade, in ways that do not isolate them from each other, or from the rest of the world — and both also seek new partnerships with North and South.

The respective governments can read the global tea leaves and respond accordingly with appropriate timely policy adjustments and interventions.

International financial and economic crises continue to bedevil the planet and cause developing nations (such as Guyana and India) to pursue social development goals that can be sustained in these new times.

The country’s government has re-established its reputation as a serious trading partner and Doing Business in Guyana is, again, more of a pleasure than a humbug.
The ease of doing business here has improved considerably, with the private sector now very-much more willing to embrace government initiatives, given this administration’s record of delivering on its promises.

Guyana and India are doing brisk business again, thanks to the careful and expert handling of the nation’s finances that have come with Dr Singh’s vast experience, backed by a President and Vice-President who sealed several bilateral trade, investment and business deals during separate visits to India earlier this year,
Besides, Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo is also a former Finance Minister (across several PPP/C administrations) and state planner with delivery credentials visible across Guyana.

And then there’s the valuable support of a public finance policy analyst who daily explains the vast differences between what was inherited by this administration and what’s being done – and the results.

India continues to grow at home and abroad and continues to play a more active role on the world stage, while Guyana continues to expand its ties with North, South, East and West, to ensure that its development is pursued with pride and purpose.

Together and apart, the two nations definitely pursue practical development of mutually-agreeable business policies that will augment their respective prospects for surviving and sustaining national development and South-South business ties.

And the continuing flow and flurry of arrivals bears testimony.