Finance Minister engages Texila University on expansion plans

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh MP on Tuesday engaged officials of the Texila American University on plans to expand in Guyana.

Dr. Singh toured the university’s Providence, East Bank Demerara campus.  

Speaking to DPI following the engagement, Dr. Singh said his visit was also to ascertain where the leadership is in its work plan.

“Texila University came to Guyana and started operations in 2011 when we were previously in Government, and they acquired this plot of land in 2014 as part of our Government’s agenda to develop Providence and the East Bank [into] a new major corridor of economic activity.

So, what we see here is a private sector institution founded by international investors who have come to Guyana, who found in 2011 a favourable and conducive environment for establishing a medical school, who have grown that medical school into a credible institution that now produces qualified doctors who are practicing around the world.”

Dr. Singh said the university facilitates students from Guyana and around the world as it has met the licensing requirements to practice in the United States, India and the Caribbean.

The PPP/C Government continues to facilitate growth and investments through incentives such as the removal of corporation tax on education and medical facilities in the 2020 emergency budget.

Such conditions, the Minister said, will help Guyana become a centre of excellence in the provision of education and healthcare.

Acting Dean at Texila’s College of Medicine, Dr. Dheeraj Bansal said Minister Singh showed interest in the economic spill-offs of the institution’s work.

“When you set up an institution like our institution, it’s not just to provide education, it has impact on other areas too. There’s an economic side to it. Because when you have institution of this size, it means employment to a lot of Guyanese people.

We have nearly 800 students from 25 plus countries. They will be living here. They’ll be renting houses here. They will be acting as consumers,” Dr. Bansal said.

He said the university’s establishment in Guyana is beneficial to the country and the university, noting that the institution has a long-term plan to build its own hospital here.