Georgetown, Guyana — (July 12, 2018) Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon, today, met with Mr. Yucatan Reis, Mr. Alexandre Saverin, Mr. Luis Panelli, Mr. John Forman, and Mr. José Mario de Castilho, a delegation of Brazilian investors, who are in Guyana to explore areas of investment in the country’s emerging oil and gas sector. The meeting took place at the Minister of State’s office, Ministry of the Presidency.
Minister Harmon highlighted infrastructure as an area of investment that will catalyse Guyana’s development. “It is a very important time in our development and in our history and so we really welcome the investments and the opportunities between Guyana and Brazil. These opportunities are now increasing on a daily basis… Our physical infrastructure is key because we cannot develop our country unless our physical infrastructure is organised. That means [that] our ports have to be modernised, our road network that links the coast to the hinterland will have to be modernised,” he said.
The State Minister also said that strengthening the partnership between Brazil and Guyana will raise the quality of life for Guyanese. “In some countries a river is a border, but for us the rivers are bridges. We have built bridges over them and therefore we’ve connected our people in more ways than one. It is this connection which, I think, we need to develop. We need to improve on it so that we can provide a better quality of life for our people. Ultimately that is what our task is as a Government, to provide that good life to our people. We are stewards of the resources of our country and therefore it is our responsibility to ensure good stewardship of it, so that, not only this generation, but generations to come will be the better [from] the decisions which we make now,” he said.
Mr. Panelli cited the longstanding partnership between Guyana and Brazil as the main reason behind Brazil’s keen interest in investing. “It’s important for us to be here, not only for geo-political reasons, but because we’re neighbours… We are very interested in joining you in this effort to develop the [oil and gas] field here. It is going to be a very important thing for Guyana and for Brazil… We have the means… we have the personnel and we are very keen on [investing],” he said.
Mr. Saverin, who has visited Guyana four years ago, noted the entrepreneurial incline occurring in Guyana. “You see the difference. You see the progress and you see the excitement in everybody’s eyes. I think we’re starting to see the change in the country where people are starting to open new businesses and taking new risks just with the idea of the oil that is coming… We’re excited to be here and we would love to proceed with [investment] in oil [and] in infrastructure,” he said.
This year, Guyana and Brazil are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations.
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