President Ali tells US diaspora

IN order to meet the growing human resources demand, the government of Guyana has indicated plans to construct a diverse skills-training facility.

While addressing a diaspora event in Queens, New York, on Thursday, President Dr. Irfaan Ali disclosed that more than US$100 million is being invested to offer free training in several sectors.

“We are spending more than US$100 million on creating a new state-of-the-art national skills-training centre, not only for the oil- and-gas sector, but for every single sector in our country, and every single skill that will be required to take our country forward,” Dr. Ali told the gathering at the Hotel Liberty Inn and Suites on Thursday evening.

The proposed national skills-training centre is to be established at Port Mourant, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

According to President Ali, persons interested in obtaining such skills will be trained free of cost, as the initiative is intended to contribute to the ongoing economic expansion taking place across all the country’s sectors.

“We have already granted more than 26,000 scholarships under the GOAL scholarship programme. Before 2025, every Guyanese will have free university education in Guyana… This is a journey of development,” he said.

He noted further that the government is building a resilient economy with systems that can offer the best services to its people.

“The task is not a simple task; you will hear there are still many issues that we have to fix. We have to build a country in which people can rely on the system; we have to remove the disaggregation from individuals, and ensure the system works, and works every single day,” he explained.

Driven by innovation, research, and scientific advancement, Guyana, President Ali said, will become a powerhouse, representing several other countries in the Caribbean and Latin American region.

“We are building a country that is ahead of time; one that is sustainable, resilient, viable, and competitive, but, importantly, one in which Guyana will present global leadership on energy, food and climate,” he said.

Strategic and critical investments are also being made to strengthen the country’s health and education sectors, so as to ensure that citizens are given the best and equitable service across the country, further fortifying the country’s goals to become resilient in the global arena.

“We are building an economy that is different; one that will be built on innovation, research and development, scientific advancement… We want to build a healthcare system, and an education system that is second to none,” Dr. Ali said.

I reiterating that Guyana’s advancement will be a shared success for the region, President Ali said:
“We are working on ensuring that our prosperity also brings prosperity to the rest of the Caribbean, and the rest of the CARICOM region and South American region.”