President Dr Irfaan Ali has called for stronger international partnerships to help small developing countries overcome financial and human-resource constraints and use science and technology to address critical national challenges.
Ali made the call while delivering the feature address at the Clinton Global Initiative event, “Powering Scientific Breakthroughs”, at the Hilton Midtown Hotel in New York.
He said scientific advancement and technology are critical to achieving energy security, food security, affordable healthcare, climate and biodiversity services, equitable artificial intelligence and digitisation, pandemic preparedness, infrastructure development and human capital advancement.
According to Ali, small developing countries often have to navigate the same global systems as larger economies despite having less financial and human-resource capacity.
He said, however, that the size of a country should not determine its ability to contribute to global solutions.
“Guyana is indeed a small state, but we are learning that the power of a country is not measured only by size and population. Power can also be measured by the partnership a country builds,” the President said.
Ali said partnerships are particularly important for small states because they do not have the resources to independently finance every advanced laboratory, medical technology, innovation or agricultural research programme.
He said small states could instead serve as pilot or sample environments for research while leveraging international partnerships to access expertise, technology and financing.
“The question, therefore, is not whether a small state can do everything itself. The question is, can we build partnerships that allow us to do what we could never do alone?” he said.
The President pointed to healthcare as an area where Guyana is using partnerships and technology to address disparities in access to services.
“For too long, geography helped to determine the quality of health care a citizen could receive. If you live on the coastline, our options are different from those of citizens living in the hinterland. We are determined to change that,” Ali said.
He highlighted Guyana’s partnership with the Mount Sinai Health System and Hess Corporation, which he said has been extended for five years as part of efforts to transform the country’s public healthcare system by 2030.
The partnership, he said, focuses on strengthening systems, developing human capital, modernising care and bringing advanced expertise to Guyana.
Ali said technology is also being used through electronic health records, telemedicine, modern diagnostics and data-driven decision-making.
He cited a long-distance telemedicine robotic cardiac surgery between Guyana and India, which he described as an example of how technology could help overcome geographical barriers in healthcare.
The Head of State also said Guyana has established baseline medical data for children in primary schools through its partnership with Mount Sinai, with plans to extend the initiative to secondary school students.
He said the information would support public health decision-making and allow for health monitoring as children progress through the education system.
Ali also highlighted investments in health education and training, including programmes for nurses, patient care assistants, laboratory technicians and doctors.
He said Guyana is working with international universities, institutions and training programmes to develop the human resources and specialised skills needed to meet the country’s demands.
Additionally, he also outlined the Government’s efforts to expand digital access to public services.
“A citizen should not have to travel hundreds of miles or spend an entire day in a Government office simply to access a service that technology can put within reach,” he said.
Ali said Guyana is investing in a digital Government system and expects to complete its national payment platform by the end of this year.
He said Wi-Fi services are also being developed in hinterland communities.
According to Ali, technology and infrastructure investments have already contributed to a reduction of almost 95 per cent in the number of patients requiring medical evacuation from one of Guyana’s most distant hinterland locations to Georgetown in less than three years.
He attributed the reduction to the provision of services within the hinterland community.
The President said the Government is also working to consolidate Government services through the MyGuyana platform.
“By next year, you can open one app, MyGuyana, and every single service the Government offers will be on one platform rather than navigating 20 or 30 different websites,” he said.
He said Government service centres have also been established across the country, while digitisation has reduced transaction times in some instances from days to minutes.
Ali said these initiatives demonstrate how technology can reduce the cost of accessing services while improving efficiency.
He said Guyana’s experience shows that partnerships can allow small states to access technology, expertise, human resources and financing that may otherwise be beyond their individual capacity.
“It gives us the quickest pathway to technology, to people, to human assets, and, of course, to finances,” the President said.
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