Senior Finance Minister congratulates Dr. William Warren Smith on ‘outstanding and successful’ tenure
-as Outgoing CDB President bids farewell
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh on Wednesday morning had a farewell meeting with outgoing President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Dr. William Warren Smith, during which the Minister extended on President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s, Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo’s as well as his own behalf, congratulations to the outgoing official for a successful ten-year tenure.
Dr. Singh noted the excellent working relationship between the Government of Guyana and the Bank and their valuable support provided over the years. The CDB has supported a number of projects including the most recent being the US$190 M Linden to Mabura road, funding for which was approved by the CDB last December along with a US$11 million (approximately G$2.3 billion) loan for the development of a Tourism and Hospitality Institute in Guyana.
Minister Singh further reminded that the first country visited by Dr. Smith when he commenced his tenure ten years ago was Guyana and this country has since received enormous support from the Bank. He also alluded to the Bank’s support given to other Regional States especially in the face of challenges by each Regional member to various disasters and struggles.
For his part, the outgoing President cited how impressed he is with the developments taking place in Guyana as he also expressed the desire to once more visit when the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
Dr. Smith, a Jamaican, was elected President of the CDB at a special meeting of the CDB Board of Governors on October 29, 2010 and assumed office on May 1, 2011. He was re-elected to serve a second five-year term as President commencing May 1, 2016.
Some of the additional CDB projects in Guyana during Dr. Smith’s tenure included the Fourth Road Project: West Coast Demerara Road Improvement in 2013, the 2014 Sea and River Defense Resilience Project and the Skills Development and Employability Project in 2017.