New York-based Guyanese applaud Govt. efforts to develop country
-President Jagdeo addresses Diaspora
Guyana Chronicle
June 18, 2004
GINA -- THE Guyanese Diaspora in New York now has a better understanding of the Government of Guyana and of its plan to develop their home country.
On Saturday, June 12 President Bharrat Jagdeo was the keynote speaker at a Business Breakfast Forum at Henry House Banquet Hall in Brooklyn where he outlined four key areas on which his administration is placing emphasis.
These are, Guyana in the context of a rapidly changing world, creating economic wealth, developing human resources and nation building.
According to President Jagdeo, Guyana now has a good investment policy, one of the most liberal in the western hemisphere.
“The biggest investment and economic transformation was the return of the country to economic viability,” the President said.
He recalled that about a decade ago, Guyana was using 94 percent of its revenue to service its foreign debt. Today this has been reduced to around 24 percent.
Applause greeted the President’s announcement that Guyana’s foreign debt stands at around US$1 billion, inclusive of the $1.4 billion borrowed in the past decade.
The Guyanese Diaspora was heartened to hear the news that Guyana is now spending significantly more on education and housing. These were issues related to the third point in the plan outlined by the President, that of human resource development.
He recalled plans to distribute 50,000 house lots, a significant number when one considers that there are about 200,000 families living in Guyana.
The President thanked the Diaspora for the many contributions they have made to developing Guyana and called on them to see Guyana as a country in transition and not to compare Guyana to other countries, especially developed nations.