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President tells IDB ‘green’ investments in Guyana and Guiana Shield are good investments
President David Granger lobbied the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), during a meeting held Friday on the sidelines of the Conservation International Annual Board Meeting in Washington D.C. The Head of State met with Mr. Graham Watkins, Principal Environmental Specialist at the IDB and Mr. Juan Pablo Bonilla, Manager of the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Sector and emphasised that an investment in Guyana and the Guiana Shield, as a whole, is a good investment.
In an invited comment, following that meeting, President Granger said, “The Guiana Shield is the single most important zone of biodiversity in the world today and it is much better than anything you can find in Africa or Asia in terms of the richness of its biodiversity. So that’s a big plus and of course Guyana is central. Despite its relatively small size in relation to Brazil and Venezuela, Guyana is a central part of the Shield… In terms of investment horizon, we impressed upon the bank that an investment in the Shield, an investment in Guyana would be a good investment for it.”
With reference to potential investment areas, the President said that the priority areas for Guyana are institution building, to strengthen Guyana’s institutional capability and infrastructural development, particularly the generation of sustainable energy. “We saw this as a part of a partnership with other states in the Guiana Shield, particularly Suriname and Cayenne,” he said.
The IDB officials also identified agriculture and forestry as other investment possibility areas. According to the organisation’s website, the IDB’s 2012–2016 strategy is designed to help Guyana achieve continued economic growth, while at the same time promoting the sustainability of the country’s natural resource endowments. Specifically, the strategy primarily seeks to support Guyana’s objective of achieving sustainable, private sector-led growth by giving priority to investments that promote the sustainability of its natural resources through green investments.
