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Deputy Premier and Trade Minister Lorna Smith has underscored Guyana’s discovery of oil and its stratospheric economic rise in recent years as being behind the BVI’s quest to bolster trade relations with the South American country.
Smith, along with a team of government officials and a group of private sector representatives, embarked on a three-day trade mission to Guyana late last month where matters in relation to trade, agriculture and financial services, among other things, were discussed.
Smith told reporters at a press conference yesterday that Guyana will, in the next few years, become one of the largest oil producers in the world and argued that the BVI has the kind of investment structures needed for Guyana.
“Guyana is a CARICOM member, and the BVI is an Associate Member and we all know that Guyana has discovered oil and gas,” Smith said. “So, there is that reality. Why now? The BVI has the kind of financial services structures that could be used for investment into Guyana and vice versa.”
Chief Executive Officer of BVI Finance, Elise Donovan, in supporting Smith’s position, added that Guyana has had an unprecedented growth rate of some 62 percent in the last few years. “That is arguably the highest growth rate in the world, in terms of economic development,” Donovan said.
She continued: “BVI is a facilitator of global trade and investment and business, and we see the synergies that we are able to produce across the world in terms of facilitating global trade, that we can be that facilitator with what we see happening in Guyana.”
Natural alignment between Guyana and BVI
In the meantime, the Deputy Premier explained that there is already a natural alignment between Guyana and the BVI, given their respective regional positions and association with CARICOM.
According to the Deputy Premier, the spirit of partnership between the two countries was evident throughout and there was mutual agreement that the mission was what she described as the ‘starting gun’ on building a closer relationship.
She also alluded to the strong cultural connection which exists between the two countries, with Guyanese forming the third largest immigrant group in the Virgin Islands and constituting a significant portion of the workforce.
Smith further shared that the BVI wants to turn that natural alignment into a more robust partnership and develop mutual business and investment opportunities between Guyana and the BVI.
“Guyana’s economic growth is clearly significant, and we were very impressed with the government’s focus on using its oil and gas resources to develop a sustainable economy,” she added. (BVI News)
