THE Guyana Office of Investment (GO-INVEST) expects to end 2003 on a 'good' note.
That's the word from officials of the agency.
"There is a massive move to grab investment opportunities in Guyana," said one official last week.
According to GINA, GO-INVEST reports assisting new investors from the United States, Canada, European Union member-countries, China, France, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Israel and Brazil in beginning operations in the country.
GO-INVEST is facilitating investors from these countries in the implementation of more than 50 projects.
GO-INVEST has also facilitated over 130 new projects for local investors totaling some US$48M.
It is projected that the agency will have facilitated in excess of $17.9B in new investments by the end of 2003.
GO-INVEST has coveted such an important function in Government's drive for financial success of the country that Guyana has recorded the largest gain in the Foreign Direct Investments performance and Potential Index among 140 countries assessed in the World Investment Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The FDI Index compares a country's share of global Foreign Direct Investment with its shares of global gross domestic product. The report notes that Guyana generated US$215M in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) between 1999 and 2002.
In 1988-1990, Guyana ranked 58th in the world for inward FDI performance. For 1999-2002, Guyana improved 41 places to rank 17th in the world for inward FDI.
The most favored sectors for Foreign Direct Investments in 2002-2003 are the Processed Food, Woods and Services sectors.
GO-INVEST, in its publication "Investment Opportunities in the Republic of Guyana", says the most important investment opportunities will be created through the Roraima Integration Project that consists of the physical integration of Boa Vista, the capital of the state of Roraima in the northern part of Brazil, and Guyana's capital, Georgetown.
The project, according to GO-INVEST, will allow for sustainable development and the insertion of these areas into the global market.