PULL QUOTE: “It seems to me — and I might be wrong — but it seems to me  as if (Go-Invest) just waits for someone to bring a proposal and then to give it an approval and disapproval… And it is not proactive, in the sense that I don’t think that there (are) enough linkages and relationships with the rest of the Government; with the private sector; with other areas within the society…’
PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar highlighted the importance of investing in social and economic development when he addressed the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) Strategic Review and Planning workshop yesterday at the National Convention Centre at Liliendaal,Greater Georgetown. He emphasized that investment drives the country forward by creating employment and wealth, thereby helping to expand social services and improving revenues.

“For economic and for social development, investment is really indispensable, and [is] something that we really have to pursue. It was for that reason that Go-Invest was actually established,” he noted.

The Head of State, however, highlighted some concerns he has with the organisation, one of which is its excessive dependence on individuals. He said the society would benefit were Go-Invest to be more institutionally driven, and less dependent on the individual.

“…it becomes a stronger institution, and to be able to pursue the role that has been assigned to it about having investment within the society,” he stressed.

Moreover, the President deemed the organisation a little too reactive and not sufficiently proactive.
“It seems to me — and I might be wrong, but it seems to me — as if (Go-Invest) just waits for someone to bring a proposal and then to give it an approval and disapproval; and it is not proactive in the sense that I don’t think that there (are) enough linkages and relationships with the rest of the Government, with the private sector, with other areas within the society,” the President asserted.

He added that while the traditional sectors should not be abandoned, there is need to modernize and diversify them.

Further, the President posited that science and technology are playing a much more dominant role in economies, and therefore there is need to seek out new kinds of investments in those fields.

He declared that the Government is making significant investments to develop a more knowledge-based economy, alluding to such initiatives as the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) project.

He also related that the Government is investing heavily in the education programme, not only on the coast, but also in the interior; and because more people are beginning to appreciate the importance of education, many schools are overcrowded.

Consequently, the Government has undertaken to construct a number of new schools in the interior.

President Ramotar reiterated that Go-Invest needs to be proactive and come up with views and ideas in the new areas that exist, and in the possibilities of those new areas. They also need to know what impediments exist.

“I don’t mind the impediments, and working against them; but what I mind is when people use the impediments as excuses to not get anything done… How (can we) really deal with the problems that we have? Tackle them, and come up with plans and programmes to tackle them, so that we can have a larger involvement of our people,” he stated.

He mentioned that Go-Invest is not the country’s only agency involved in investment, and he highlighted the importance of creating linkages among these different agencies, especially to eliminate duplication or wastage of efforts.

Nevertheless, the President stressed that Go-Invest does have a lot of scope, and that there are a lot of yet unexplored areas in which more can be done with the limited resources available.
“I think we should identify the new areas that we need, and we should be proactive and go for them; go out to get them, and not wait for them to drop in our laps,” he asserted.

He emphasized that integrity is an extremely important element in any organisation.
“If people lose confidence in any of our organisations because of issues of integrity, it becomes extremely difficult to function effectively, and also to win back that trust that you would have had,” he stated.

Present at the workshop were Chairman of Go-Invest, Mr Keith Burrowes; its acting Chief Executive Officer, (CEO) Dhanpaul Dhanraj; members of the Board of Directors of Go-Invest; members of the business community, and other agencies that give support to the work of Go-Invest.

They also used the opportunity to raise their concerns, some of which the president responded to.