Govt. delegation heads to Canada to woo investors
A high level Government of Guyana delegation is gearing to head to North America to meet with a number of potential investors.
The team will be looking to sell investment opportunities in Guyana.
The announcement was made by Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, who on Monday last said that the team will be led by Prime Minister and First Vice President, Moses Nagamootoo and will also include himself, Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan and Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin.
The investor’s confab stems from requests made of Head of State, President David Granger during a recent visit to the North American country.
“Several persons in the Canadian Diaspora expressed an interest in projects and investing in Guyana, some even in returning to Guyana and we were mandated to follow up on this,” Patterson told members of the local media corps.
He said the response to the planned forum thus far, has been overwhelming but he did express concern over the logistics involved in getting to meet and interact with all of the persons that would have expressed an interest.
“But we do hope in the end that we will have some concrete proposals with which we can carry to Cabinet.” Patterson told media operatives, that the confab is slated to be held from Friday to next Monday.
The Diaspora Investment Forum, according to Patterson, will on the first day see the Ministers along with a team from the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-INVEST) meeting with a number of large businesses.
He said during that forum, “we will make presentations on investment opportunities in the country and in the afternoon, we will schedule one-on-one meetings.”
Patterson told media operatives too, that among some of the presentations would be government’s plans to build a new Demerara Harbour Bridge as well as plans to establish four new townships and the inherent investment opportunities.
“We will be speaking to them on energy,” said Patterson, as he reminded of Government’s commitment to pursuing alternative energy sources other than the traditional fossil based fuels.
He recalled too, the administration’s desire to have all of the outlying areas, including the Essequibo islands powered by alternative energy.
Patterson cited as an example that the power generation needs of an island such as Wakenaam, could be put to investors.
That island, he said, has a demand requirement of about 2MW and potential investors in alternative energy could examine possibilities in that region which could also lend to reducing the cost paid for energy there.
“I will also be pitching to them for the airport and the security services,” said Patterson. He told members of the media that as it relates to the provision of security services at the international airport, there is a proposal from a Canadian firm but the delegation would also be looking for other proposals from interested parties.
Patterson said, while he could only speak to his Ministry’s portfolio, he is quite certain that the Ministers of Business and Public Security will also be making similar pitches for projects under their remit.
He said too that the Public Security Minister and the Prime Minister will also seek to provide some level of assurance to the potential investors on the security and safety of their investments locally.
