By Mikaila Prince
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (DPI) – Ensuring that no region is left behind, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government has committed to seeing the transformative development of every community. Chief investment officer of the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) Dr Peter Ramsaroop said Wednesday that “tens of millions of dollars” in investment have already been earmarked for the mining town of Linden, Region Ten.
During a press conference held following a tour of the Midas BPO (Kara Kara Call Centre), Dr Ramsaroop indicated that Go-Invest has signed investment packages with a few big companies that are seeking to expand, and develop the township.
“We recently signed an investment package with a large cement plant in Linden that is doing quite a bit of construction work in building houses in Linden.
We are about to sign another investment package with a medical supply company to do oxygen bottling and other types of packaging. In the region, we recently had some large megafarms in soya bean and corn and we are about to do some more in that. […] We have another investor who came to put up a steel factory right outside of Linden.”
The investments will create over 200 direct jobs for Lindeners, the chief investment officer noted. With the development and transformation of the mining town, Dr Ramsaroop underscored the need for the establishment of more commercial industries such as gas stations in the region.
“This is where I recommend Region Ten folks pay attention to as what the government is doing, what the private sector is doing and figuring out where you fit,” he said.
Since taking government, the investment climate in Guyana has significantly improved. In just a few months, several Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) have been inked to build hotels, expand agriculture, healthcare and other critical sectors.
Just in November, senior minister in the office of the president with responsibility for finance, Dr Ashni Singh highlighted how busy he is in back-to-back meetings with prospective investors for Guyana’s economic space.
“Today, more than ever before, international visitors, international investors, international companies and your more discerning domestic consumer is looking for brands that they recognise. And so, it’s not an accident that we’re seeing today the turning of the sod of more Marriotts, more Hyatts, more Best Westerns, the entry of international food chains, the entry of international brands in literally every sector and segment of economic activity,” the senior minister explained during the launching ceremony for the world-class real estate firm, RE/MAX in November.
In addition to more international investors, the finance minister sees domestic consumers as now more discerning in looking for goods and services of a quality not previously found in the Guyanese marketplace.
Hence, Dr Singh said this is the age in which Guyanese will see more demand for goods and services to be delivered at or in compliance with a level of standards that before was never in demand.
