-President Ali says, highlights connection to enhanced public services and expansion of businesses

PRESIDENT Dr Irfaan Ali has underscored the far-reaching impact of investment on Guyana’s economy, highlighting that the benefits extend well beyond individual projects to support jobs, businesses, and public services across the country.

The Head of State made this known while speaking at the recently opened Four Points by Sheraton hotel, during which he used that project as an example of how investment injects value at multiple levels of the economy, from construction to long-term operations.

“Investment is not a slogan… investment changes lives and makes a real difference in the lives of people,” Ali said.

Against this backdrop, he explained that even before operations began at the hotel, the construction phase generated employment for a wide cross-section of local workers, including engineers, carpenters, electricians, and truck drivers, among others.

These wages, he noted, translated directly into spending across the economy.

“That income paid rent and purchased groceries. It covered transportation. It assisted children to go to school… and supported small shops, market vendors, taxi drivers, restaurants, and service providers,” the President outlined.

Beyond direct employment, Dr Ali pointed to the wider supply chain that benefits from such projects, including the procurement of cement, steel, furniture, and equipment, as well as services such as catering and transportation.

He went on to note that these activities allow businesses to expand, hire additional staff and contribute taxes, which in turn support critical public services such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure.

Highlighting what he described as the “multiplier effect,” the President noted that spending generated by investment continues to circulate throughout the economy.

“$1 spent does not stop at $1, it moves, it circulates, it multiplies,” he said as he explained that money flows from workers to shopkeepers, wholesalers, transport providers, and other sectors in a continuous cycle of economic activity.

President Ali added that the benefits accelerate once projects become operational. In the case of the hotel, he said, permanent employment will be created across a range of roles, including front desk staff, housekeeping teams, chefs, managers, and security personnel.
He further noted that visitors staying at such facilities contribute to economic activity by utilising local services, dining in restaurants, hiring transportation and purchasing goods.

“Every occupied room creates opportunity far beyond these walls,” the President said.

Meanwhile, pushing back against criticism of investments, President Ali noted that he is appalled when he hears malicious attempts to question the impact of investments.

“When I hear the malicious attempts… to question the impact and role of investment… I’m appalled,” he said, arguing that such views ignore the jobs created, taxes paid, skills transferred and opportunities generated.

President Ali maintained that foreign investment complements local enterprise rather than displacing it, adding that sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and transportation all stand to benefit from increased economic activity.

“Foreign investment does not exclude local investment… in many cases, it stimulates it,” he said.