Chairman Emeritus of the Ansa Mcal Group of Companies, Dr Anthony Sabga, has lauded the economic progress of Guyana and points to the huge investment poten-tial of the region’s larg-est territory.Dr Sabga was at the point of responding to the reasons behind his invitation to the presi-dent of Guyana to ad-dress the Directors of the Ansa Mcal Group in Trinidad. The president made amajor presentation to the Ansa Mcal Group and in-vestors in Trinidad at its corporate headquar-ters in Port of Spain last Thursday.Current Chairman of the group, Norman Sabga, pointed to Guyana as the investment des-tination of choice, and revealed that a delega-tion will be visiting the country within the next few weeks as a follow up to the close discussions with President Jagdeo.Sabga spoke of the synergies between Guyana and Trinidad and the positive invest-ment climate which ex-isted in Guyana today.The Ansa Mcal group’s visit to Guyana will fol-low that of another ma-jor business group from Trinidad and Tobagothat has already identi-fied and formally applied for an area where its in-vestment in entertain- ment will be located. Sources close to the Guyana Office for Trade and Investment (GO-Invest) report that there has been an increased and active interest from Trinidad and Tobagobusiness within the past few months. President Bharat Jagdeo has told a group of Ansa Mcal executives that there are huge busi-ness opportunities in Guyana.Speaking just before a business luncheon with executives of the con-glomerate in Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday, Jagdeo said that Guyana had emerged from be-ing a ‘ basket case’ in the Caribbean to become one of the safest places to in-vest. Noting that he hoped to stimulate the already high interest the group has in Guyana, Jagdeo said ANSA McAL Group Chairman Norman Sabga recently visited Guyana, and left with a very good impression of how things were going.“ Guyana had a very difficult time. Our debt situation was one of the worst in the world,” he recalled. “ There was a sense of hopelessness in the country. A report from the Caribbean Council of Churches said there was no sense of identity in Guyana.” He said he had fixed the economy and improved infrastructure. The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian quoted President Jagdeo as say-ing that government had spent quite a bit on in-frastructure, fixing 800 of the 1200 schools and constructing eight new hospitals. He said his government has distrib-uted 80,000 house lots in Guyana.“ Everybody is build-ing, even the cleaners and security guards.Interest rates have gone down, and the country is becoming more politi-cally stable.” One area of opportunity lies in Guyana’s connection to and growing relations with South America, in particular Brazil.Jagdeo said Guyana has a free trade agree-ment with Brazil, and the list of items that can be exported into Brazil has been extended. He said that a bridge has already been built connecting Brazil and Guyana, and there are plans to construct a huge power plant and a deep- water harbour in Guyana.“ I am seeing sever-al Guyanese firms and some foreign ones build-ing warehouses,” Jadgeo said. Further, there are plans to expand the rice industry and move peas-ant farming to large scale agriculture.“ We are exploring for oil and gas now,” he add-ed.
Chairman Emeritus of the Ansa Mcal Group of Companies, Dr Anthony Sabga, has lauded the economic progress of Guyana and points to the huge investment poten-tial of the region’s larg-est territory.Dr Sabga was at the point of responding to the reasons behind his invitation to the presi-dent of Guyana to ad-dress the Directors of the Ansa Mcal Group in Trinidad. The president made amajor presentation to the Ansa Mcal Group and in-vestors in Trinidad at its corporate headquar-ters in Port of Spain last Thursday.Current Chairman of the group, Norman Sabga, pointed to Guyana as the investment des-tination of choice, and revealed that a delega-tion will be visiting the country within the next few weeks as a follow up to the close discussions with President Jagdeo.Sabga spoke of the synergies between Guyana and Trinidad and the positive invest-ment climate which ex-isted in Guyana today.The Ansa Mcal group’s visit to Guyana will fol-low that of another ma-jor business group from Trinidad and Tobagothat has already identi-fied and formally applied for an area where its in-vestment in entertain- ment will be located. Sources close to the Guyana Office for Trade and Investment (GO-Invest) report that there has been an increased and active interest from Trinidad and Tobagobusiness within the past few months. President Bharat Jagdeo has told a group of Ansa Mcal executives that there are huge busi-ness opportunities in Guyana.Speaking just before a business luncheon with executives of the con-glomerate in Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday, Jagdeo said that Guyana had emerged from be-ing a ‘ basket case’ in the Caribbean to become one of the safest places to in-vest. Noting that he hoped to stimulate the already high interest the group has in Guyana, Jagdeo said ANSA McAL Group Chairman Norman Sabga recently visited Guyana, and left with a very good impression of how things were going.“ Guyana had a very difficult time. Our debt situation was one of the worst in the world,” he recalled. “ There was a sense of hopelessness in the country. A report from the Caribbean Council of Churches said there was no sense of identity in Guyana.” He said he had fixed the economy and improved infrastructure. The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian quoted President Jagdeo as say-ing that government had spent quite a bit on in-frastructure, fixing 800 of the 1200 schools and constructing eight new hospitals. He said his government has distrib-uted 80,000 house lots in Guyana.“ Everybody is build-ing, even the cleaners and security guards.Interest rates have gone down, and the country is becoming more politi-cally stable.” One area of opportunity lies in Guyana’s connection to and growing relations with South America, in particular Brazil.Jagdeo said Guyana has a free trade agree-ment with Brazil, and the list of items that can be exported into Brazil has been extended. He said that a bridge has already been built connecting Brazil and Guyana, and there are plans to construct a huge power plant and a deep- water harbour in Guyana.“ I am seeing sever-al Guyanese firms and some foreign ones build-ing warehouses,” Jadgeo said. Further, there are plans to expand the rice industry and move peas-ant farming to large scale agriculture.“ We are exploring for oil and gas now,” he add-ed.
