Almost one month after U.S Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, and Guyana’s President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on energy and infrastructure, a Government delegation from the U.S will be in Guyana to discuss investment opportunities.
The U.S. Embassy announced that the International Development Finance Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Adam Boehler is leading a U.S. government delegation to Guyana on October 13 “to discuss investment opportunities and highlight the U.S. Government’s Growth in the Americas initiative to support economic growth and security cooperation in the region.”
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is America’s development bank, and that bank partners with the private sector to finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the developing world. “We invest across sectors including energy, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and technology,” the DFC website states.
In September, during the U.S Secretary of State’s visit, the MoU was signed, and as part of that agreement, it was indicated that a Working Group comprising representatives from the U.S and Guyana would soon be formed. That Working Group, as per the MoU, would have to be established within 90 days of the signing.
The MoU is geared towards strengthening cooperation on energy and states that investments in energy and infrastructure are expected to increase the reliability and diversification of the participants’ national infrastructure systems and help counter threats posed by supply disruptions from natural and manmade events, including cyber threats.
Through the MoU, Guyana agreed to increase U.S. private sector awareness of strategic energy and other infrastructure projects in the South American country and explore potential financial support from the U.S International Development Finance Corporation to facilitate private sector participation and investment in such projects.
In recent months, Boehler has traveled to Athens, Greece; Pristina, Kosovo, Belgrade, Serbia and Jerusalem, Israel, with a delegation where energy formed an important part of the discussions.
