Guyana’s Foreign Direct Investment quadrupled in 2017

Aug 04, 2018 News

Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Guyana increased from US$58M in 2016 to US$212M in 2017 in part as a result of the oil and gas sector preparing for first oil.
According to report by the Economic Commission for Latin America, Guyana has bucked the trend for the region with FDI flows to Latin America and the Caribbean contracting for the third year in a row in 2017, to US$161.6B, 3.6% down on the 2016 figure and 20% less than in 2011, a release from Government said yesterday.
Guyana averaged FDI flows of US$135M between 2005 to 2009; 2011 US$247M; 2012 US$294M; 2013 US$214M; 2014 US$255M; 2015 US$122M; 2016 US$58M.
In 2017, Guyana’s energy and mining were the two main recipients, at 41% and 23% of the total, respectively. Total FDI represented 6% of Guyana’s GDP.
The report states that “FDI grew in all sectors, except in manufacturing. The energy sector received US$90 million, as part of a first wave of inward FDI related to ExxonMobil’s discovery of major oil reserves off Guyana’s coast.
While it continues with its successful exploration efforts, ExxonMobil decided to launch the first development phase of the Liza field, with an investment of US$4.4 Billion; the group aims to begin extraction in 2020 (ExxonMobil, 2017)”.
The reports notes that “the Government of Guyana hopes to take advantage of the international interest in the recently discovered oil reserves to promote other sectors, such as agriculture and mining…In the latter, Canadian mining company First Bauxite Corporation announced a bauxite production project valued at US$50 million, with construction of facilities set to begin in 2018.”
In 2017, FDI flows to Suriname totalled US$163 million, a 47.2 percent drop compared with inflows in 2016. Inward FDI to Trinidad and Tobago was negative by US$374 Million in 2017.