An impressive group of American asset management firms were recently in Guyana for talks with President, Dr. Irfaan Ali and his team on potential opportunities for strengthening the country’s financial capabilities.
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo confirmed on Thursday during a press briefing that the group included Black Rock, the world’s largest asset manager, along with Bank of America, Capital Group, MFS Investment Management.
He said they represent a combined asset base totalling US$1Trillion. The official said the high powered mission came voluntarily, adding that they expressed great interest in understanding the potential investment opportunities available here.
Jagdeo noted that the companies’ presence is of significance as it underscores that the Guyanese market has caught the attention of major global circles.
Jagdeo said too that discussions touched on government’s plans for the oil and gas sector, their infrastructure developments, the new industries in agriculture and manufacturing being developed and strengthening management capabilities for the Natural Resource Fund.
The Vice President said, “So we are looking to deepen our financial system to make more investable capital available in Guyana and this is not for government necessarily but for the private sector too
“These companies are on the cutting edge of global financing solutions and many of the tools they use could be adopted to make the instruments in Guyana more attractive to lot of oil companies because right now it is just a straight forward loan you can take.”
He said such developments, particularly as it relates to creating a more sophisticated financial environment, is essential to ensuring the real economy keeps growing.
