Latest update June 4th, 2026 12:30 AM
How China does business in Guyana
Dear Editor,
The Dragon roars, spits fire, and the Jaguar finally pays attention. Is this some kind of fictional storyline? Certainly not! Bai Shan Lin’s overture to the UN Boss to “remind” Guyana of its treaty obligations is not only real but is a case study which draws international attention to how China does business in developing countries.
Industrially, China has been expanding over the last three decades in various sectors including, housing, mining, transportation, and technology. In the course of its economic growth, it needs to satisfy its voracious appetite for exploiting Guyana’s virgin resources as it did in other parts of South America and Africa. For ten years, the PPP Government granted these companies the most favored status to invest virtually unchecked and has also rewarded the leaders with Guyanese citizenship. The forensic audits have found that many of these investments contracts were giveaways of the country’s resources with very little scope for monitoring and accountability. Further to that, many arrangements are not on the books. However, Anand Goolsarran’s audit of the Guyana Forestry Commission is insightful of how the previous government conducted business in secrecy through a network of top officials and the blessings of Freedom House.
Bai Shan Lin’s move to the UN boss has illuminated the fact that this company and its affiliates are not private companies but state companies, as the United Nations charter would allow for the settlement of nation to nation disputes; this much I suspected with Harmon’s mission to China. In my letter on April 13, 2016 I questioned, “Should we prioritize our diplomatic relationship focusing on the benefits of China’s investments, or the short-term repossession of assets?” It will be prudent to re-negotiate the contracts with Bai Shan Lin and its affiliates at the diplomatic level with the direction of our Foreign Affairs Minister who also heads the Department of International Economic Cooperation.
In hindsight, it seems more apparent that Harmon’s intervention to opt for negotiation rather than retaliation was the more prudent and statesman approach. The rush to judgement now appears as a short-sighted knee jerk reaction. It appears that by virtue of this recent legal maneuver, our Ministries of Business, Foreign Affairs, and Attorney General’s office should now proceed to scrutinize the details of these contracts with the goal of reaching a win-win outcome for both China and Guyana, deriving benefits befitting both the Dragon and the Jaguar. Seizing of a few vehicles is chicken feed as compared to big projects when properly negotiated with an economic power-house as China. The streamlining of these contracts can bring jobs and economic development.
Bai Shan Lin wants its vehicles and concessions, but where are the deliverables such as the wood-processing plant, new roads, and jobs for our people? Fortunately or unfortunately, the coalition government is expected to straighten this mess. The PPP Government treated the resources of the nation as their private property. Former President Jagdeo initiated the early contracts and although his succeeding President Ramotar suspended Parliament on November 10, 2014 he found it opportune to renew this investment agreement in January, 2015 for a period of three years without Parliament’s blessings. It leaves one to question other possible investments, giveaways, and concessions in this period leading up to the elections on May 11, 2015.
The void and frustrations created by the failure of proper hand-over of all the contract documents from the previous administration and the inaction of some principal legal officers to clean up this mess will be addressed in future columns. For the issue of Bi Shan Lin’s complaint, we are finally back to the negotiations table before any United Nations intervention. Meanwhile, the Chinese Dragon which depicts nine different animals and symbolizes power, strength, and good-luck in things of nature, stalks the land. How will this fierce Jaguar portrayed in our Coat-of-Arms and Golden Jubilee symbol respond?
Max Wallerson
Share this:
Discover more from Kaieteur News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.