—President Ali announces, says gov’t will overhaul financial architecture, develop online payment system

A NEW era of opportunity for local businesses in Guyana is on the horizon with the creation of a Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) Development Fund.
The initiative, which is among a three-pronged strategy to boost the country’s development and bolster support for Guyanese owned enterprises, was announced by President, Dr Irfaan Ali on Tuesday during his address at the Local Content Summit being held at the Georgetown, Marriott.

“[It’s] a development fund that prioritises different sectors and brings together not only access to finances, but using the finances from the development fund to catalyse more financing from the financial system,” the President said.
The SME Development Fund, the President emphasised, is an innovative mechanism to turn small business ideas into scalable projects, ultimately driving large-scale capital investment.
He said: “It’s not about you receiving a grant, type of loan and you go off and so on. It’s about how to develop a project that marries the development fund with a commercial bank so that to reduce risk, and also you unlock additional fund for your project.

“So, it’s a mechanism that can allow a good idea from a small business to become a medium-sized idea.”
The development fund is part of a broader strategy for modernising Guyana’s financial systems and creating a more robust business environment, particularly for local entrepreneurs.
President Ali outlined that this system would foster a conducive environment for innovation, investment, and sustainable growth.
He said: “How do we create the opportunities for businesses and individuals to redirect their spending back into the local economy, so that there will be no motivation for any company to establish shell companies or headquarters outside of Guyana.

“The system must create in-built incentives, in-built opportunities through which you can get a higher return by reinvesting your capital, reinvesting your resources in the local economy.”
The President’s vision also includes a widespread financial literacy campaign to equip citizens with the knowledge and tools necessary to make sound financial decisions.
This effort aims to teach Guyanese how to invest, save, and budget responsibly, empowering them to become active participants in the economy.
President Ali said: “We are going to have complete overhaul of our financial system. We have to modernise the financial architecture. We have to have a payment system, a payment platform, by the end of this year, that you can make payment anywhere across the country by sitting in your home.”

The President encouraged businesses to create models that not only drive profit, but also promote shared prosperity.
He called for businesses to adopt innovative profit-sharing models that could empower employees, stating that: “Growing wealth and building wealth and creating prosperity is not only about your businesses winning. It’s about your employees

winning with your businesses and creating an even environment in which your employees must win with you, so they will deliver better every single day.”
This year’s conference was held under the theme: “Collaborate. Invest. Build: Shaping Guyana’s Future together.”