President leads `aggressive' thrust in Miami
From Sharief Khan
MIAMI- PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo arrived here yesterday to continue an "aggressive promotion" policy aimed at boosting foreign investment in Guyana. He told the Chronicle the Guyana Trade Office he is due to open here this week, is only the second of a number to be established as part of the thrust to "aggressively promote Guyana." A similar office in Trinidad and Tobago is to be enhanced, President Jagdeo said. He is leading a Guyana Government/private sector delegation to the 23rd Miami Conference on the Caribbean and Latin America, which was due to formally get underway here last night. Mr Jagdeo is among more than 1,500 government and business leaders at this year's annual forum organised by the Washington-based Caribbean/Latin American Action (CLAA) group. The four-day conference will focus on the hemisphere's readiness for the 21st century and the ways to improve business performance and competitiveness throughout the Region. President Jagdeo, President of Haiti, Rene Preval and Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur, are among leaders to address the plenary sessions. Mr Jagdeo is to speak on `Guyana in a Global Economy' and he told the Chronicle the plenary sessions "are good in that you get an opportunity to showcase your country." The Inter-Continental Hotel, where the conference is being held, buzzed with activity yesterday as leaders arrived and companies and countries put up booths for a major exhibition. President Jagdeo visited the Guyana booth as it was being set up, speaking with the Head of GO-INVEST agency, Mr Deochand Narine and others at work there. The President indicated that he will use this Miami visit to speak about the changes taking place in Guyana and the opportunities opening up. The more important aspects, he felt, are the bilateral contacts that can be forged here between businessmen in Guyana and others around the Caribbean and Latin America. The message is forging contacts and working out deals in giving investors the assurances that "they need to come down and invest," he said. "It's more about bringing people together to make contacts...the informal aspects are more important than the formal plenary sessions." The President is hoping the aggressive investment programme will yield more foreign investment which is linked to job creation, "something we have been speaking about a lot." He said he will also be telling potential investors about policy changes at the macro level, the climate for investment and the openness of the Government to sit down and "work through packages that would allow (them) to get additional returns on (their) capital and allow Guyanese and Guyana to benefit from these investments." Mr Jagdeo said getting down to "sector specifics" was also critical and this is being done. Leading local businessmen and a CLAA trustee, Mr Yesu Persaud told the Chronicle President Jagdeo has a unique opportunity here of "making a presentation that really appeals to our friends in Latin America and the Caribbean."
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