Libyan investment team’s arrival imminent

Jan 28, 2009 News

The Libyan investment team will be in Guyana within the next month to explore opportunities within the country.
During a press conference on Monday, President Bharrat Jagdeo said that he is also looking at some other areas to seek investments.
However, he did not divulge the areas being examined or the countries from which Guyana will be seeking investment opportunities.

President Bharrat Jagdeo

President Jagdeo had earlier described his recent trip to Libya as a success, adding that he was able to persuade the Libyan leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi, to explore investment opportunities in Guyana.
This, he noted, is despite the debt of US$41M which Guyana owes that country.
The President said that he was unsuccessful in seeking a complete write-off of the debt, adding that he was seeking to have at least 85 percent wiped off the books.
He informed the media that he told Gaddafi that Guyana was obligated under the ‘Paris Club Agreement’ and the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) agreements to seek comparable treatment, adding that should the country fail to acquire that from other creditors, it could jeopardize the debt relief the country already has.
The Head of State said that the Libyan argument was that if they were to facilitate Guyana’s request for a debt write-off, then they would have to facilitate other countries in the same position.
Speaking about his decision to visit Libya and Greece, the Head of State said that the credit crunch is significantly affecting Western countries’ ability to invest in developing countries.
He added that oil exporting countries have managed to set up sovereign wealth funds with large reserves, and are now looking for developing countries in which to invest, given that the Western countries are not ideal investment locations at present.
As it relates to the critics of his trip to the Middle East, the President said that they did not understand the dynamics of present financial flow.
He added that the trip, which was long in the making, was, as is the case with all trips overseas, “to forward our interests abroad, be it political, economic or social.”