Guyana is open for business – Finance Minister tells Latin American investors

Jan 23, 2021 News

Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh

Kaieteur News – “Guyana is open for business” was the invitation given to Latin American investors by Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh as he outlined the significant transformation the country will undergo due to its booming oil sector.
Dr. Ashni Singh made this statement on Wednesday during a virtual roundtable discussion on Guyana’s finance and investment opportunities with LatinFinance, a source of financial markets intelligence for Latin America and the Caribbean.
With the publication readership boasting a host of small and large scale entrepreneurs who would love to invest in Guyana, Dr. Singh explained that the governing regime is currently establishing a policy environment that is investment friendly. But while the foundation is being laid for developments on the oil and gas front, Dr. Singh stated that there is an urgent need for infrastructural investment, a critical factor to accommodate that rapid transformation.
Further on, he relayed that Guyana is working hard to avoid the dreaded Dutch disease, a phenomenon that plagues many oil-rich countries.
“We want to make sure that we avoid the pitfalls that we’ve seen other countries that have gone this route before in culture, and here I mean excessive dependence on or excessive exposure to a single sector. While we recognize our oil and gas will drive a dramatic expansion, we recognize also that we need to ensure that we put in place all of the macro structures that are necessary to avoid for example, Dutch disease,” Dr. Singh highlighted.
Further to this, Dr. Singh said Guyana’s petroleum sector would boost its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) however; the Government would be managing the economic inflow to ensure it addresses the country’s immediate developmental needs, as well as plans for sustainability.