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President Bharrat Jagdeo pursues foreign and local investment, builds confidence in private sector
"My vision for Guyana caters to the essentials of all our people, and the creation of a modern society with a highly educated population, doubling the standard of living in 10 years."
The president reiterated that no sector is barred from investment, that he guarantees no restrictions on the flow of profits or dividends and that there would be absolutely no nationalization.
"I strongly believe that the government and the private sector can work together. Global experience has shown that where government and the private sector have worked well together, the potential of economies has been unleashed and opportunities created."
This is why, he said, his government has been redefining its role, moving away from involvement in the productive activities to providing an enabling environment for the development of the private sector.
The Private Sector Commission's Chairman, George Jardim, confirmed this, "We've had a tremendous dialogue and a lot of fruitful things happen out of that dialogue. President Jagdeo met with us at a business summit last October and we agreed on 19 measures. I can tell you that 17 of those measures have been implemented or are very close to implementation."
Guyana economy on a steady growth curve
Jagdeo said that in the last seven years, the government has accelerated the privatization of public sector entities, improved the infrastructure and the regulatory and incentive framework. We continue to attract investment in key sectors of the economy, he said.
"Our government has created a very stable macroeconomic environment. We have reduced interest rates, realized single-digit inflation and reduced the national foreign debt from $2.1 billion to $1.2 billion."
The Guyana economy grew at more than 5 percent per annum on average between 1993 and 1999; inflation declined from more than 100 percent in 1991 to about 9 percent in 1999, interest rates fell from more than 35 percent to 17 percent, and the deficit of central government operations declined from more than 25 percent in 1991 to less than 3 percent in 1999. In addition, the deficit of balance of payments fell precipitously from 48 percent of GDP in 1991 to less than 10 percent in 1999 while the external debt fell sharply from $2.1 billion to about $1.1 billion.
President Jagdeo is the youngest CARICOM leader
Jagdeo has the respect of the international community as is demonstrated by the high regard from other Caribbean Community and Common Market leaders.
At the last CARICOM heads of government conference, Basdeo Panday, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago commended Jagdeo, who has been the focus of special coverage in the media in Trinidad and Tobago as the youngest and newest head of government, for expressing concern that CARICOM move along rapidly toward a single market and economy.
Panday observed that the older leaders of the region may well be faced "with a generation that will show no tolerance for the inherent slow pace of progress in the implementation of CARICOM decisions."
Jagdeo also cautioned the Caribbean against becoming fixated with regional integration at the expense of opportunities presented by the wider world.
"I believe strongly in Caribbean integration, but I do not believe that we should get so fixated on integration that we lose sight of a larger world out there," he told a business leaders awards presentation banquet at which the Jamaica Observer was host.
"Sometimes I think we are looking through the wrong end of the telescope because through the Lomé Convention we have had access to the European markets, more markets than we have ever had through the single market and economy.
"But we have not been able to take advantage of those markets because of the absence of entrepreneurs on a large scale and because we have not tackled our productive structures. We can go on and open all the markets in the world (but) if we don't deal with those issues, we will never be able to prosper as a region," he said.
The things that would strengthen the region's ability to compete globally, he suggested, "include training and strengthening a culture of entrepreneurship to fully exploit business and trade opportunities, improving the macroeconomy, continuing to improve the policy environment, aggressively pursuing the maintenance and expansion of markets and focusing on human resource development and civil service support."
The Jamaican Observer invited Jagdeo to present business awards at their business leader of the year function and has lauded his vision. The paper's managing director said, "we believe you (President Jagdeo) represent an emerging leadership of the Caribbean of the kind which is critical to take the region forward in the 21st century.
"We became convinced of this after your spectacular presentation at the luncheon at last December's annual Miami Conference. Your vision for the region was refreshing."
As Calypso King of the World, the Mighty Sparrow puts it, "age is just a number."
Numbers figure prominently in the management of Guyana's economy for the president, a former minister of finance for four years who still holds the portfolio, although he now battles with other matters of the state, especially with general elections scheduled for next year.
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Table of Contents President Bharrat Jagdeo pursues foreign and local investment, builds confidence in private sector |
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"We have embarked on an aggressive drive to encourage more local and foreign entrepreneurs to do business in Guyana," said President Bharrat Jagdeo, adding that Guyana stands to benefit through jobs and wealth creation, revenue flows and access to capital and modern technology.