Office of Prime Minister met with high-level delegation from World Bank

DPI, Guyana, Friday, July 26, 2019

Prime Minister and First Vice President, Hon. Moses V. Nagamootoo, and Hon. Dawn Hastings, Minister of State, met with a high- level delegation from the World Bank Group on Monday last.

The World Bank Group, headed by Tahseen Sayed, Director for the Caribbean and Latin American region, reaffirmed its commitment to expand positive engagement with Guyana as the country heads to first oil.

The World Bank assured of their support for capacity building over time, engagements in the areas of policy, legislative drafting, education, agriculture, development financing, environmental protection, global best practices, the sovereign wealth fund and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

Tahseen Sayed, Director for the Caribbean and Latin American Region greets Prime Minister of Guyana Hon. Moses Nagamootoo

Ozan Sevimli, Resident Representative for Jamaica and Guyana, Judith Green, Principal Investment Officer/Head of the English-Speaking Caribbean for the International Finance Corporation, Abha Prasad, Hon. Dawn Hastings-Williams, Minister of State, Hon. Moses Nagamootoo, Prime Minister of Guyana, Program Leader for the Caribbean, Susana Moreira, Oil and Gas Specialist, Hubert Forrester, Operations Officer; Tamara Khan, Legal Adviser (Governance) and Deeann Ali, Personal Assistant to Prime Minister

Sayed reminded that the World Bank has already granted US$20M ($4.2B) to Guyana for technical support, and assured that over a three year period between $25M and $90M could be made through a concessional window.

The Prime Minister spoke to the issue of the current situation following the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling. He also explained the importance of the Natural Resources Fund (NRF), the Guyana Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) and transparency and accountability as facilitated within the framework of the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GEITI). He added that while Guyana has a plan under its “2040 Available Vision”, it will abide strictly to the fiscal rules that guide expenditure.

Other members of the Group comprise Ozan Sevimli, Resident Representative for Jamaica and Guyana, Judith Green, Principal Investment Officer/Head of the English-Speaking Caribbean for the International Finance Corporation, a World Bank subsidiary agency, Abha Prasad, Program Leader for the Caribbean, Susana Moreira, Oil and Gas Specialist and Hubert Forrester, Operations Officer.

The Prime Minister’s delegation included Legal Adviser (Governance), Tamara Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Deeann Ali.