US EXIM Bank ready to assist Guyanese businesses

The Government of Guyana in collaboration with the US EXIM Bank held a round table discussion at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Access to financing and US EXIM Bank Products for the Private Sector.

The initiative follows the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the government and the bank during the President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s visit to Washington back in July.

Delivering his remarks at the engagement on Thursday, President Ali expressed the government’s commitment to elevating the private sector and emphasised that they should make the most of the opportunity by thinking outside the box.

“The role of the government is to do exactly this… we are to open the doors and create an environment in which the local private sector can grow and prosper and that is exactly what is being created here, an opportunity for you to reach out to EXIM at a very high level and for you to participate and partner with EXIM and US companies… in the direction in which the economy would want to go,” he noted.

Addressing the multitude of American and Guyanese business owners, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh noted Guyana’s transformative trajectory and the expectations of more US partnerships to advance Guyana’s development.

“Guyana is open to business to the world… this is literally the most incredibly transformative and exciting time in Guyana’s history. There are a few countries if any, that would’ve gone through as rapidly and as steeply as Guyana is currently undergoing. We would like to see more US companies present in Guyana and playing a part in that transformation,” Dr. Singh stated.

Meanwhile US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah- Ann Lynch noted that the US is Guyana’s main commercial partner.

She also promoted US businesses as beneficial partners for Guyanese, pointing out that the largest US trade delegation in history is currently in the country.

Lynch encouraged businesses to maximise the opportunity.

“As Guyana’s largest trading partners, US companies want to make deals. As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the Guyanese want to make deals,” she noted.

The main purpose of the engagement was to explain how the export credit agency works and how Guyanese businesses can benefit from their financial assistance.

Meanwhile, Acting Senior Vice President of the Office of Small Business at the US EXIM Bank, Tamara Maxwell spent a great deal of her presentation highlighting the bank’s services and its role in Guyanese businesses seeking to expand their partnership to the US.

She also announced that special emphasis will be placed on Guyana at the US EXIM Bank.

“We need to create a Guyana team at EXIM Bank simply because we saw all of the opportunities and we met with a lot of businesses, so we are going to create a team who are only going to handle Guyana authorizations applications so that you’re not waiting for anyone to call you back… and they’re committed to making sure that the transactions coming from Guyana are not missed,” she noted.

Early next year, US EXIM Bank Chairman, Reta Jo Lewis is expected to visit to create further partnerships with Guyana.