–as IDB Invest pumps over US$260M into local projects, eyes over US$300M in new opportunities

AS the partnership between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Guyana continues to evolve further with more development projects underway in the country, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh, recently hosted a round-table meeting on the occasion of a visit to Guyana by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IDB Invest James Scriven.

The meeting provided a platform for representatives of the local private sector and IDB Invest to discuss further investment opportunities in the country and how the institution can assist businesses in terms of their investments to contribute to the country’s rapidly growing economy.

CEO Scriven was on a two-day visit and while in the country, met with President Irfaan Ali.

He also toured a number of project sites and participated in the grand opening of the Four Points Sheraton Hotel.

During the round-table discussion, Minister Singh welcomed the CEO to Guyana on behalf of President Ali and all Guyanese, and explained that the IDB is the premier hemispheric development institution and has historically been the largest provider of development finance to Guyana.

He also noted that this private sector arm of the bank recognises the importance of the mobilisation and deployment of private financing as an indispensable contributor to the realisation of the hemisphere’s economic growth aspirations.

“For a very long time, I spent every available opportunity advocating that IDB Invest do even some businesses in Guyana and for many years, it did little or no business with only four transactions totalling US$6 million being completed in the entire first three decades of Guyana’s membership of the IDB,” Minister Singh related.

He noted, however, that in 2020 when President Ali assumed the presidency, government immediately set about re-engaging with IDB-Invest and invited the institution to establish and ramp up a presence in Guyana, recognising that the rate of economic growth would be creating private investment opportunities.

“…and I am extremely pleased to say that in the space of the five and a half years that elapsed since then, under James’ leadership and I know with his personal involvement, IDB Invest has now approved US$264 million worth of financing for private-sector projects and these range across an extremely broad spectrum of sectors,” Minister Singh added.

Following the roundtable discussion, Scriven and team, accompanied by Ministry of Finance officials, toured some project sites for which the IDB Invest had provided financing support.

The first site the team visited was Demerara Distillers Limited for which the IDB Invest in 2020 provided US$22 million to support food security by financing the expansion of milk and fruit juice production capacity, along with another US$7 million in 2023 to further boost production and diversification of agro-processing operations.

Additionally, the team toured Muneshwers Limited where in 2022, the IDB Invest provided US$4 million for the procurement of a mobile harbour crane to increase port-terminal capacity, and in 2023, an additional US$10 million for the expansion of port and warehouse facilities.

The IDB Invest has also partnered with Guyana’s private sector through the provision of financing for a number of other projects, including US$45 million in 2023 towards Unicomer Guyana Inc.’s  sustainable commercial complex that will employ micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in local supply chains; US$30 million in 2024 towards One Communications connectivity and networking infrastructure; US$5 million in 2025 to the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) to assist in expanding access to financing for micro and small enterprises (MSEs); as well as US$55 million under its Trade Finance Facilitation Programme to provide working capital and liquidity to commercial banks including Republic Bank Guyana Limited, Demerara Bank Limited and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI).

The visit culminated with Minister Singh and the IDB Invest CEO joining President Ali for the grand opening of the 172-room Four Points Sheraton Hotel owned by Mauricio Van Dam, for which the IDB Invest provided financing of US$18 million towards its construction.

DELIBERATE ACTION

While delivering the feature address, President Ali said, “Guyana’s future is bright not by accident but by action, not by chance but by choice, not by rhetoric but by results. Under my administration, development in Guyana will be continuous because we have the right vision, the right policies, the right team, and the support of the Guyanese people, and importantly, we are building the right partnerships”.

He added that those who invest in Guyana today are not taking a gamble of uncertainty they are placing confidence in one of the most exciting growth stories of the world.

“To the team of Four Points Sheraton, thank you for believing in Guyana, thank you for investing in Guyana, thank you for helping to build Guyana!

“This hotel is more than an impressive structure, it is a statement, it says Guyana is moving, it is growing and attracting talent and opportunity,” President Ali added, noting that Guyana is experiencing a wave of construction and transformation like never seen before and that the country is readying itself for a boom in tourism, road improvement and expansion, an expansion of air connectivity, a strengthening of security and an increase in quality of services among many other developments underway.  soon to come.

Minister Singh, while delivering remarks recalled that President Ali’s vision for all that is happening currently started since when he was Minister of Housing and Water and Minister of Tourism, as at that time ‘he already had a map with every dam in every cane field mapped out with remarkable clarity’.

“So today when we fast forward to 2026 and we hear conversations about the dozens of hotels that are being opened up and the thousands of rooms that are being created, and the thousands upon thousands of jobs that are being created in the tourism and hospitality sector, I can’t help but cast my mind back to that period when these ideas were being conceptualised, with the clarity with which they were being conceptualised and with a vision that really today makes me wonder about how much of it was foresight and fortuitous circumstances.

“Of course, the discovery of oil did help and will continue to help, but I want really to make the point to all of you today that we did not get here by accident and we did not get here only because of oil,” the finance minister explained.

CEO of IDB Invest James Scriven in his remarks said the opening of the hotel marks a significant milestone in sustainable development and investor confidence.

He highlighted that his two-day visit to Guyana had already surfaced new investment opportunities exceeding US$300 million.

Scriven also noted that the hotel is setting a new regional standard for eco-friendly luxury and is anticipated to be the first EDGE Advanced certified hotel in Guyana and potentially in all the Caribbean.

“You are leading sustainable tourism by featuring a large solar roof footprint and energy-efficient design, and the hotel aligns perfectly with Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy,” Scriven pointed out.

In attendance also at the opening of the new hotel were Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips and Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Susan Rodrigues.

Joining the CEO on his visit to Guyana were the Managing Director for the Caribbean Region, Darryl White and the Director of the Caribbean Region, Corporates Division, Isabel de Caires, of the IDB Invest, as well as the Executive Director for the Caribbean at the IDB, Navita Ramroop, and the IDB’s Country Representative, Lorena Solórzano Salazar