Guyana’s Office for Investment (GO-Invest) has released an investment prospectus which outlines 55 areas government wants investors to go after, with a promise of generous tax breaks and fast-tracked approvals.
“Guyana is experiencing transformative and exponential growth since becoming an official oil producing state. Opportunities for investors with a vision and a capacity to deliver are immense,” the prospectus states.
The investment opportunities are spread across the categories of agriculture, energy, forestry, information and communications technology (ICT), manufacturing, mining, services, tourism, and housing.
GO-Invest calls it the Invest 55 Initiative, which it says is meant to build global partnerships, increase competitiveness, and globalize Guyana’s sectors.
The agency said Guyana is partnering with local and international companies to increase development capacity across all sectors, and that it plans to proliferate knowledge transfer for its local workforce through these partnerships.
“Both Foreign Direct Investment and local content investment are the engines for economic growth and development,” it stated
The prospectus provides basic information about Guyana, its major sectors, culture, bilateral partners, and laws.
It also discussed some of the actions government is taking to make the environment more attractive for investment, including efforts to lower the cost of electricity by implementing various energy projects, sourced from natural gas, hydro, solar and wind power. The government intends for the reduction in the historically high cost of power to revolutionise the South American country’s investment climate.
Also in store is a network of roadways and bridges which is being mapped out to give businesses easy access to Guyana’s neighbours.
“The growing economy and improved infrastructure will bring benefits for regional partners. Guyana and Brazil will benefit from a long-planned road, opening the door to bilateral trade. Another major project is the construction of the Corentyne Bridge, which will link Suriname and Guyana, further expanding Guyana’s investment portfolio,” the prospectus states.
Other marketing points include the country’s “young, educated, English-speaking population; stable and open financial markets; investment protection under the law; unrestricted repatriation of profits; and capital; duty-free access, and equal treatment for local and foreign investors.”
Investment interest in Guyana is building on excitement about the growth of the oil and gas sector, with over 10 billion oil equivalent barrels discovered to date.
Guyana has the tremendous job of diversifying its economy and building resilience, so that it does not become a victim of oil price volatility due to an overdependence on oil and gas revenues.
President Mohamed Irfaan Ali ha said the oil industry will be the engine for Guyana’s growth, but that it cannot be the only sector that brings Guyana value.
