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The Inaugural U.S.-Guyana Growth in the Americas Working Group held its first meeting virtually on Friday, the US embassy said in a release. The meeting is a product of the Growth in the Americas Initiative Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Guyanese Minister of Foreign International Cooperation Hugh Todd on September 18, 2020 in Georgetown.
The MOU aims to facilitate bilateral collaboration in the areas of finance, energy and infrastructure, and identify ways to catalyze private capital for programmatic and project-specific investment opportunities, according to the release. It further seeks to address technical, regulatory, structural, systemic, economic, and financial obstacles, and propose solutions intended to attract the investment necessary to advance Guyana’s prosperity.
At the Inaugural Working Group, Guyanese government representatives discussed key needs in finance and procurement, energy and power generation, physical infrastructure, information technology and housing. U.S. representatives described the technical assistance the U.S. government was able to provide in these areas as well as Sovereign Wealth and Public Finance Management to ensure that Guyana’s regulations and business climate stimulate domestic and foreign investment.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo led the Guyanese delegation, and the United States delegation was headed by NSC Senior Director Josh Hodges and Treasury Assistant Secretary for International Markets Mitchell Silk. The U.S. delegation included representatives from the Departments of State, Energy, Commerce, Transportation, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, USAID, the Development Finance Corporation, the National Security Council and the U.S. Embassy in Guyana. The Guyanese delegation included representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Public Works; Natural Resources; Housing and Water; and Tourism, Industry and Commerce, as well as representatives from the Guyana Revenue Authority, Guyana Power and Light, and the Telecommunications Agency in the Office Of the Prime Minister
