SEVERAL companies that are eyeing opportunities in Guyana have adequate reasons to be optimistic, as Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo, has affirmed that the government is actively working towards the creation of a digital society.

He made those remarks during a recent press conference at Freedom House, where he spoke about the efforts to modernise Guyana’s financial sector and provide services which will attract international investments.

The Guyana Energy Conference and supply chain expo which concluded on Friday was abuzz as investors from around the world came to pitch proposals.
The Vice-President said that there were a number of Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies looking for opportunities in Guyana.

He said: “These opportunities are not limited to the oil and gas sector, because you can use AI now to improve productivity in almost every sector there.”
Apart from that, there was also a great deal of companies looking to provide financial services.

“You heard me speak about the need to drag our banking sector up from its very conservative approach, which may have served us well in the past, and because it lent some stability to the system.

“But in the new environment it acts as a hindrance to further rapid growth because the instruments available can’t support the rapid pace of change…,” the Vice-President said.
Jagdeo further said there is need for more innovative financing to make full use of the opportunities.

The Vice-President: “I saw one, a pitch was made to us yesterday [Wednesday] where with a simple app you would be able to open your bank account. So, for the many people in Guyana now who do not have bank accounts, who like, say in the Amerindian villages or the riverine areas, or even along the coast, by just downloading the app with an appropriate bank, you can open a bank account without having to go physically present.

“Just imagine the future that we are envisaging and that’s why we are working on the digital society.”

With the introduction of new technologies, Guyana’s outdated banking and financial sector is getting a facelift, Jagdeo had said during day one of conference.
The Vice-President is of the belief that the financial sector can become a humbug, and could slow down the massive growth that Guyana is seeing, if it does not expand in complexity and instruments.

“That is why we’re trying to drag it out of the stone ages into an environment that is appropriate to support the expansion in the real sector,” Jagdeo said.

Further, several projects are being executed to aid in the digitisation of Guyana, he related, noting: “We’re digitising the government…we’re hoping our airport, within the next few months, would go paperless. This year, we are mounting cameras right across the country; we started doing that with software for facial recognition and that would have a big impact on security.”
He also said that they are issuing secure documents for every citizen to have a national identification card (ID) that would give the biometrics to start in deepening the financial services and to broaden the range of instruments that would be available for people to improve payment systems, among other things.

He said: “So we have our hands filled.”
The banking and financial sector is an important sector, which the government has been placing specific focus on in order to empower citizens to benefit from the massive economic transformation taking place across the country.

Access to financing is a main pillar for the establishment, growth and success of both small- and large-scale businesses, as well as the economic empowerment of individuals and households.

Under the stewardship of the PPP/C Government, Guyana’s financial sector has shown significant improvements in recent years in key performance indicators, reflecting a strengthening economy and robust regulatory oversight.