Acting British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn recently pointed to the “ten-fold” surge in UK-Guyana trade, one he said reflects a keen interest from investors aiming to access the South American market.
Quinn had previously served in the position from 2015 to 2020. He measured the increase from that period to when his predecessor – Jane Miller – took over.
“Whenever I first arrived it was £93 million. Now it is £1.6 billion – a ten-fold increase in…seven, eight years. The trade work has always been important and I think that demonstrates how we have UK businesses wanting to come back [to Guyana] and it is not just oil and gas, it is about the infrastructure, the services, medical…it is about everything else,” he shared in a Jan. 9 interview with the Guyanese publication News Room.
According to information from the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry, total trade in goods and services (exports plus imports) between the UK and Guyana was £1.6 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2023, an increase of 130.6% or £913 million in current prices from the four quarters to the end of Q2 2022. The report said In the four quarters to the end of Q2 2023, total UK exports to Guyana amounted to £846 million (an increase of 109.9% or £443 million in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q2 2022).
Quinn believes growing trade and investment between the UK and Guyana promises mutually beneficial economic prospects.
Rising demand for UK goods in Guyana and increased imports from Guyana to the UK are set to sustain the upward trajectory of bilateral trade relations. Guyana’s gas reserves position the nation as a potential energy security partner for the UK. Both countries fortified their partnership with a recent agreement, accompanied by the UK’s visa waiver for Guyanese nationals. Direct flights commenced last year.
