Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali Wednesday urged regional countries to get involved in the integration of the economic expansion of his country, saying that is a “conversation we are willing to have”.
Ali, who became the first CARICOM leader to address a joint sitting of the St Lucia Parliament, said Guyana’s prosperity must also be regarded as prosperity for the 15-member regional integration movement.
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“Today, I want to say that our country Guyana and I say our country Guyana because it is part of our region, is open for investment. Tremendous opportunities are coming our way,” he told legislators.
He said Guyana is now recording a double-digit growth rate having just completed a 40 percent growth rate, down from the previous year of 60 percent “and a growth rate in the upper 20 percent in the coming years.
“But how do we ensure that the region is integrated in the economic expansion of Guyana? And that is a conversation we are willing to have.
“How do we use this opportunity to create energy security for the region, to build a platform through which the entire region must enjoy energy security? How do we use this opportunity to ensure that we enable the region to become food secure to end malnutrition and hunger?
Ali said that this is a problem in the region, adding that malnutrition and hunger are important issues the region must tackle, noting “the growing population, especially among children are becoming obese leading to health-related issues.
“How are we going to tackle that? How do we work to integrate our system so that all the people of our region would have baseline access to health care? We are not saying everyone will have the same access, societies are not structured that way, but how do we set a model, a baseline that every citizen must enjoy,” he asked.
He said a level of service in water, health, education, infrastructure, and recreation that every citizen must enjoy is imperative.
‘We have enough resources in the region to set those baseline targets and work towards having every citizen of the region enjoy those targets,” said Ali, who is also chairman of the 15-member regional integration movement.
Ali, who is here as a guest of the St Lucia government as the island celebrates its 45th anniversary of political independence from Britain, said it is necessary for the private sector to get involved in the socio-economic development of the region, urging them to invest in businesses and projects beneficial to the region. CMC
