Guyana prez invites expats to invest for development
President David Granger
President David Granger told Guyanese at a meet and greet reception on Sept. 22, that Guyana needs ‘brains not barrels” and called on expatriates to investment in the development of their homeland, during an address at the midtown New York Princeton Club.
“We welcome your investments. We need your intellectual capital, with your help, we could become an important manufacturing country and not simply exporters of raw materials,” Granger told a packed audience of professionals, dignitaries and diplomats.
“We want to export the best furniture, and the finest jewelry to develop these industries. We could become an important manufacturing country, but we cannot do it alone,” said President Granger.
Comments
Yes they need to make fine jewellery so the bandits and con men can raid their shops. Also if they buy property ex- Minister Jeffrey Thomas with the help of the police and con man John Peanandy can claim the land belongs to him, after he set fire to their property.
I live in the UK, and I know many people would like to return to Guyana for various reasons. The first thing that comes up is ” why would anyone go to Guyana when you are not sure whether you will be shot, stabbed or raped”?
I am a Psychotherapist, and I would love to return to help my fellow Guyanese with the problems that are tearing families and the country apart. Also, I love life and would not even visit Guyana for a holiday, when even the police and some Army officers find themselves behind bars. I wish the Guyana government would wake up and see what Guyana is really about. Not everyone in Guyana has a body guard, or can afford private security officers.
You are wrong Mr President, Guyana does not need Brains, it needs to be a safer place.
In a nutshell Guyana needs the administrative, managerial and technical know-how to deal with the transfer from the west of capitalist complexities. In fact most developing countries need this.
Guyana is fortunate to have a English speaking population and a culture that values education. Many Guyanese have been able to acquire abroad the skills and experience the country need. One major problem for years however, has been an inability to get skilled Guyanese to transfer their knowledge for the benefit of Guyana. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of the problem.
Based on a letter to the editor of a local Guyanese newspaper, I’ve learned that there are other problems facing expatriates: separation from one’s family and network of friends and resentment from the local population.
The poem “Choices” by Jamaican poet Edward Baugh, about negative feelings that we often don’t verbalize, comes to mind:
You chose to leave; that’s fine by me… / You’re still my friend. / Is true, poor people catching hell / and the middle class sleeping / with panic button under their pillow; / but when you fly down to visit / and enjoying the old veranda lime / after dinner, don’t spend the time / trying so hard to get me to say / you did right, only a loser would stay. / I wouldn’t say I would never leave, / but if that’s what they call ambition, / then right now I sticking with love…
Many challenges have to be overcome, for example:
Knowledge/skills develop in an advance industrial country like the US has to be downgraded and adapted to the rudimentary working conditions of Guyana. Sometimes this is not easy to do and this make it difficult for placement of overseas trained personnel.
Guyanese in the public sectors do like to be subjected to controls which make them accountable and measure their contribution to an institution’s objective. Those above are also not too comfortable with adapting to modern managerial methods.