–country will continue to witness physical transformation, PM says

EMPHASISING that Guyana’s building revolution has not yet peaked, as it is currently in take-off mode, Prime Minister Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips on Friday said that Guyana has a very bright future ahead of it.

He was at the time delivering an address at the launch of the Ministry of Housing and Water’s International Building Expo 2023 at the Amazonia Mall Courtyard.

This year’s ‘expo’ will be held under the theme, “Building For All: One Guyana, Many Opportunities”, and is expected to run from August 24, 2023 to August 27, 2023 at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, East Bank Demerara.

“In the months and years ahead, you will continue to witness the physical transformation of the country, including the country’s physical infrastructure,” PM Phillips noted.

The PM said that when the building exposition was being conceptualised, the intention was to provide options for persons involved in home, commercial, industrial or infrastructural construction.

“The ‘expo’ allowed exhibitors to showcase their diverse products and services, and facilitated those building with the opportunity to see what was available on the market, including that which were new and innovative,” he said.

The building construction sector is a diverse landscape, which, according to PM Phillips, encompasses a variety of goods and services, including architectural, engineering, contracting, project management, building supplies and services, technology, logistics, landscaping, and a host of other services.

He explained that while people may say Guyana is experiencing a “building boom”, what he sees is a building revolution.

“A building boom is simply an increase in the construction of various types of physical structures within a country. We do have an exponential increase in construction taking place in our country, but what we have goes beyond a boom; it can be classified as a building revolution,” he said.
The prime minister further said that the building revolution is shaping Guyana’s future.

“We have persons and firms constructing hotels, homes, warehouses, commercial buildings, industrial facilities and, of course, various infrastructural facilities. We have apartment buildings, condominiums and factories being built,” he said.

Moreover, the prime minister related that the government is part of the building revolution, rolling out their infrastructural programme, which is being executed on a transformative scale.

He noted that Guyana’s building revolution has created opportunities such as providing employment opportunities for skilled Guyanese.

“The building revolution is making a difference in the lives of citizens; we must sustain it and fashion it to serve as evidence of transformation and progress. It is within this context that I wish this year’s exposition to be viewed. Guyana is changing, and changing for the better; the building revolution is a part of that transformative process,” he said.

PM Phillips added that Guyana‘s transformation will be showcased during this year’s International Building Exposition.

Meanwhile, Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal said that this year, they are looking forward to showcasing the diversity of the housing sector.

“This national event will showcase innovation [and] new products critical to ensuring that the progress and the development trajectory continues rapidly,” he related.

Minister Croal noted that they do intend to ensure that interactions are results-driven, and that opportunities for sales are fully explored. Ensuring that home builders fully benefit from interventions is also on the cards.

Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water Susan Rodrigues, in her remarks related that last year, the ‘expo’ returned after an approximate seven-year hiatus.

She said that this year, the ministry is looking forward to building stronger partnerships with members of the private sector.
Additionally, Minister Rodrigues said that they will welcome their big corporate sponsors, as well as medium- and small-scale businesses, in that, essentially, the ‘expo’ is to give members of the private sector as well as new and young entrepreneurs an opportunity to put on exhibition their products and services and new technology in the building sector.

Komal Singh, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) related that the PSC welcomes the building ‘expo’, since it allows businesses and the manufacturing sector to be under one roof, showcasing to the world what they have to offer.

Singh said that they cannot and should not stop giving praise and thanks to President Dr. Irfaan Ali and his Cabinet for “creating an enabling environment to allow the private sector to be the real engine of growth in this country.”

He urged everyone to work diligently, as a country, to create an environment where every Guyanese can contribute to its development, with a view to achieving President Ali’s ‘One Guyana’ vision.

Noting that the housing development programme, over the years, has created great opportunities to suppliers, the manufacturing sector, the labour market contractors and more, he said that the private sector will continue to work closely and diligently with the government and stakeholders to make sure there are more opportunities to develop the local workforce to meet the continuous demand in the sector.

“I want to take this opportunity to commit [the Private Sector Commission] here to support all initiatives taken by the government and central housing, and you have our 100 per cent support for Building Expo 2023,” he related.