Finance Minister urges Guyanese companies to expand beyond the domestic market

Delivering the feature address on behalf of President Irfaan Ali today at the Private Sector Commission’s (PSC’s) 34th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh urged Guyanese companies to expand beyond the domestic market while challenging them to be the regional conglomerates of tomorrow.

“There are a lot of Guyanese companies here that have the capacity to expand their footprint outside of Guyana…and you know that President Ali’s vision for Guyana is a Guyana where we are leading not only the region but the world. And a part of that journey of getting in the shortest possible time to a place where we are leading the world must surely involve looking beyond Guyan’s borders for opportunities to expand into new markets to sell our products,” Dr. Singh advised as he addressed business leaders at the event.

The Minister then provided examples of Guyanese entities that expanded to the region in the past when the country had not even reached its current progressive level and when there were even more challenges than at present.

“A hundred years ago Guyanese insurance companies (some of our oldest insurance companies) established a presence in the Caribbean in an era when you didn’t have the internet and when you probably didn’t even have airplane travel, and you had to travel by a mail boat to go to a Caribbean island. Companies like Guyana Trinidad Mutual Life (GTM), Demerara Life, Guyanese insurance companies, they established a presence throughout the Caribbean in an era when you probably didn’t even have telephones,” he outlined.

Dr Singh further advised business leaders to use this period of economic prosperity and ‘when the sun is shining’ to ensure that they expand to regional and other markets.

“There is a saying, we use it particularly in relation to economic policy-it has broader connotations and applications—that you must fix the roof while the sun is shining. I want you to reflect on that. I think it would be fair to say that as far as things economic are concerned, as far as the business environment is concerned, the sun is currently shining very brightly in Guyana and very brightly on your respective businesses,” he told the group of business leaders.

Meanwhile, the finance minister also urged businesses to improve the quality of the businesses and services.

“There is still a lot of room for us to improve the quality of service that we deliver. And I want to say at the outset that we recognise that imperative in government. We recognise (as I have always said and that President Ali has always said) that the transformation of Guyana must not only be a transformation that we see physically, but it must be a transformation in our daily experience in interacting with institutions of State. That’s why the president has an aggressive agenda for digitisation and digital delivery of services. But that is also an imperative that applies to the Guyanese private sector,” he concluded, reminding persons about government’s countrywide digitisation programme currently being rolled out.

Also attending and delivering an address as guest speaker was French Ambassador to Guyana, His Excellency Olivier Plançon, who congratulated Guyana on its 60 th Independence Anniversary.

The Ambassador also relayed a message from France’s President Emmanuel Macron that France is proud to stand with Guyana during this occasion and reaffirmed France’s recommitment to the respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana in accordance with international law.

The Ambassador also alluded to the French embassy in Guyana, which was established last year and noted that there has been strong interest expressed by French companies to invest in Guyana. He then touched on Schengen visas, noting that the French are working to streamline this visa process, and he also commended the efforts of a local airline which he pointed out has been working to establish a route between Georgetown, Paramaribo and Cayenne.

“I am very optimistic about the growth of our relations,” the Ambassador concluded. Chairman of the PSC Gerald Gouveia Jr during his remarks, noted that when he became
Chairman of the PSC, he came with three clear goals-to protect democracy and stability, to continue promoting Guyana on the world stage and to give unwavering support to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

“Over the past years we have worked and built those goals together”, he said while reminding that he witnessed in 2020 when democracy was under threat in Guyana and the longest period of uncertainty and institutional challenges that created fear among businesses and damaged investor confidence.

“That is a period of history that we must never forget,” he added while reminding the gathering that the PSC organised the largest group of observers for the 2025 election to ensure that democracy was protected and that the private sector played a key role in defending transparency, stability and public confidence.

In terms of promoting Guyana on the world stage, Gouveia said Guyana has now taken centre stage on all world forums.