With Guyana expected to see 19.5 per cent growth for 2021, President Dr Irfaan Ali on Tuesday used the occasion of addressing the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturing Association to urge investors to get on board.
In his address, President Ali expressed confidence that the political will existed to give effect to the ideals that created the Caribbean Single Market Economy (CSME).
“Building on unprecedented expansion last year by 43.5 per cent, economic growth is expected to be 19.5 per cent this year and this extraordinary pace of growth is expected to continue into the medium-term, the favorable economic outlook brings incredible opportunities,” the Head of State highlighted.
He said that this includes the opportunity for greater partnership with regional partners, including public and private sector.
But President Ali had some harsh words when it comes to the need to reduce barriers to trade across the Caribbean region.
“We cannot move forward reasonably as a people; we cannot move forward reasonably as a collective if we are not willing to act in a selfless manner. The opportunities will slip by… I have the barriers by country, I have the impediments to trade by country for exports and imports and some of this is nonsensical. Some of these barriers that are imposed can be withdrawn overnight if you are serious about building capacity and opening up opportunities,” he said.
President Ali, who focused on intra-regional food trade, also highlighted the glaring disparity in the import and export of food regionally and again lobbied for more to be done to lessen the importation bills.
He noted that there are numerous products that can be produced in the region using home-grown or homemade materials and resources.
“There are many areas we can have import substitution. Why is it not happening? If you look at the possibilities for Guyana and Trinidad—you have better-developed port facilities, low cost of energy and location advantages. We have strong bilateral cooperation. We have cross-border investment arrangements.”
The President emphasised the possibility of “marrying the competitive advantage” of T&T with that of Guyana in developing industries and opportunities for both countries’ manufacturing and services sectors.
Back in October, the Finance Ministry’s Mid-Year Report for 2021 had revealed that Guyana recorded real GDP growth of 14.5 per cent.
The non-oil GDP also grew by 4.8 percent, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and even the devastating floods experienced in May-June.
