Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh and Ian Goldfajn, President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) today signed three agreements totalling over US$205 million for investments in the transport and health sectors, as well as to support Guyana’s economic competitiveness.
The official signing took place during the XI Annual Consultation of Caribbean Governors at the Hyatt Regency in Trinidad and Tobago.
Prior to signing, Dr. Singh, on behalf of the Government of Guyana, thanked the IDB for its support to Guyana as he noted that the Bank has been providing strong support to Guyana’s development efforts, not only in recent years, but over the long-term.
“The IDB has been a reliable and dependable development partner to Guyana. The strength of this partnership is evidenced not least in the three agreements that we are going to sign today, making critical investments in three areas that go to the core of the development of our Government’s agenda,” the Minister added.
President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Ian Goldfajn while delivering remarks, stated that the bank is happy to participate in the development of Guyana.
“Guyana is growing and we are very lucky to be part of this growth,” Mr. Goldfajn said, noting that the projects are in priority areas.
Agreements Signed
The agreement for the First Individual Operation for Health Care Network Strengthening in Guyana totalling US$97 million is expected to improve the health of the Guyanese population through increased access, quality, and efficiency of health services. The specific objectives of the first operation are: (i) improve health outcomes associated with low and high complexity procedures, by expanding the capacity of strategic hospitals; (ii) extend coverage of diagnostic, medical consultation, and patient management services, inclusive of the country’s hinterlands, through Digital Health services such as telemedicine, electronic health record strategy and the strengthening and expansion of teleradiology, and teleophthalmology ; and (iii) increase the efficiency of the public health system, by strengthening key logistic, management, and support processes and inputs such as supply chain management ( including expansion of warehouse capacity, and software and hardware for an electronic supply chain management system).
This investment will also support the expansion of the capacity at seven hospitals in both coastal and interior communities, extend coverage of diagnostic exams and medical consultations, advance medical services, and increase access to a more efficient public health system. This project is expected to benefit over half of Guyana’s population including the indigenous community with interventions in all ten (10) of the country’s regions.
The second agreement on a Programme to Support Climate Resilient Road Infrastructure Development totals US$117 million. The general objective of the project is to advance Guyana’s safe, efficient and climate resilient road and associated infrastructure. The specific objectives are to improve: (i) road service quality; and (ii) utility service, along the East Bank Demerara corridor through road and corresponding utility infrastructure improvements.
The rehabilitation of this corridor represents a key component of the country’s road network within the integration corridor that connects to Brazil via Lethem, and supports key value-chains including manufacturing, food processing, construction materials, mining and forestry and agricultural commodities including fertilizer. In addition, this corridor is extremely critical given increased economic activity on the East Bank of Demerara and its connectivity to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, the Soesdyke to Linden Highway and future development of Silica City, an initiative of President Irfaan Ali.
In addition to widening and improving this important West Demerara Corridor, the project will address retrofitting of bridges, reconstruction of lateral drainage systems, relocation of electricity, water and telecommunication distribution networks, construction of passing bays, parking and stopping lanes, street lighting, improved curbways and passenger walkways to enhance commuters’ comfort and safety.
For this project, in addition to a loan of US$100 million, government will be contributing US$17 million to this important road infrastructure.
Another agreement was signed for the “Enhancing the National Quality Infrastructure for Competitiveness” totalling US$8 million. The general objective of the Project is to support economic competitiveness. Specifically, the program seeks to improve the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) capacity to promote the adoption of quality standards among Guyanese Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
This investment represents additional financing to support the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, given the overall changes in the economic structure of Guyana and the increased demand for services including Laboratory Services. This project complements the works being undertaken under the current NQI project which is under implementation to complete the construction of the GNBS laboratory in order to strengthen its technical, regulatory and compliance capacity.