The Guyana Government is preparing a portfolio of Public Sector projects to be financed by the United States Export Import (EXIM) Bank, and is also calling on the local Private Sector to follow suit in order to take advantage of this opportunity for major collaboration.
A high-level delegation from the US EXIM Bank – led by its acting Chief Banking Officer and Senior Vice President (Office of Small Business) James Burrows, and acting Senior Vice President (Office of Small Business) Tamara Maxwell – is currently in Guyana to enlighten local stakeholders on the opportunities available at the Bank for them to tap into.
During a stakeholder engagement on Thursday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, President Dr Irfaan Ali disclosed that Government would be proposing a number of Public Sector initiatives for US EXIM Bank financing.
“I know Government has already put together a portfolio of projects that we’re looking to have EXIM involvement in and those discussions would have started,” he told a packed audience of business stakeholders.
Thinking stage
However, the Head of State pointed out that he wanted to see the Private Sector moving at a similarly rapid pace to take advantage of the opportunities that the institution offers. He noted that the “thinking stage” has long passed and it was now time to be serious and proactive.
To this end, President Ali urged local businesses to ensure they put together their proposals and submit them to the US EXIM Bank as soon as possible. He explained that the Bank’s President and Chairperson, Reta Jo Lewis, was expected to visit Guyana early next year and he wanted these proposals to be already with the institution by that time.
“That’s how fast we’re looking to work and so, we want proposals to get in there before the Chair of EXIM comes here, so that we can find some strategic alliance and strategic areas in which we can have great cooperation in pushing some initiatives forward,” he stated.
According to the President, Government is fulfilling its responsibility by creating the environment and opportunities for Guyanese businesses to grow through interventions such as having the highest level of the US EXIM here to talk about ways in which local stakeholders could benefit from its services.
He pointed out that the US EXIM Bank was very serious and committed to Guyana as a new emerging market.
State of readiness
“So, we have to be in a state of readiness. We have to be in a position to make use of the opportunities that EXIM has provided… I hope that the Private Sector would see this as an important step.
“The Private Sector also needs to understand that you have to be prepared. To be prepared, you have to make investments. You have to make investments in a consultant and in a technical person to write up your business plans, write up your proposals, and to have comprehensive study as to what you want to achieve,” the Head of State outlined.
President Ali went on to outline that there were opportunities for collaborations between Guyanese and US companies in a wide range of sectors locally that could be financed by the EXIM Bank. He added too that even the local financing institutions as well as the construction industry could tap into this opportunity.
“That is what the international companies do. The US company can come and say we are coming with EXIM financing to do capital projects. There is nothing wrong for you to approach the US company and say let’s work together in approaching EXIM for financing at this rate to get things done. So, it’s thinking outside of the box,” he asserted.
According to the Head of State, these are the types of collaborations that would allow local companies to benefit from what EXIM has to offer and to do so rapidly. To this end, he urged local Private Sector stakeholders to focus on specific areas to come up with proposals that would be supported by the Government if needed.
“So, I’m looking forward to seeing meaningful outcome from these meetings,” the president stated.
EXIM Bank’s role in Guyana’s development
This visit by the US EXIM Bank officials follows the signing of a US$2 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Guyana Government and the Bank back in July to finance infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, water treatment and sanitation, and agriculture projects.
At Thursday’s stakeholder engagement, Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh told the visiting delegation that Guyana was on an unprecedented development path, which he noted the US EXIM Bank could play a role in.
“We are in a hurry to deliver development to the people of Guyana and we see important partners like the US EXIM Bank playing an extremely strategic role and highly-valued role in our delivery of development to the people of Guyana,” he stated.
Dr Singh highlighted that while many Guyanese companies were doing, or have done, business with US counterparts, they did not know of the opportunities available with the EXIM Bank.
“The US EXIM Bank does not only do business with the Government side but has a vast portfolio of transactions that they’ve done around the world with Private Sector clients and has wide range of instruments to support business-to-business transaction rather than solely Government-to-business transactions.
“We would like to see actual transactions done… We want to see actual deals concluded not only business-to-business deals, but EXIM transactions done… Guyana is open for business to the world… We would like to see more US companies present in Guyana and playing a part in that transformation,” Dr Singh stated.
Guyana office at US EXIM Bank
In response to these calls, US EXIM Bank Senior Vice President Maxwell outlined that the institution’s seriousness in business collaboration with Guyana was evident in the fact that its highest-ranking officials were part of the visiting delegation.
According to Maxwell, being here has underscored the need for a ‘Guyana team’ at the EXIM Bank especially with the level of interest that has already been expressed by businesses.
“We saw all of the opportunities and we’ve met with a lot of businesses who, we know, is going to be calling on EXIM Bank… So, we have decided to create a team that is only going to handle Guyana authorisations, applications so that you’re not waiting for anyone to call you back. You have a complete understanding and that they’re committed to making sure that the transactions coming from Guyana are not missed and that everything is looked at,” Maxwell posited.
The EXIM Bank Vice President went on to explain the services available within the institution and how Guyana companies, through partnerships with US businesses, could tap into these and vice versa.
While noting that the Bank offers small-scale as well as large-scale financing, Maxwell said these were available to specific countries that are open to business such as Guyana. In fact, she revealed that within the last month, Guyana has moved one spot higher in the Bank’s rankings in terms of improved risk of doing business.
