As foreign companies flock Guyana Ashni again urges locals to look abroad for investment opportunities

May 30, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – Finance Minister Ashni Singh has urged Guyanese business owners to pursue investment and expansion opportunities overseas, arguing that local companies should follow the example of foreign investors who continue to flock to Guyana’s rapidly growing economy.

Addressing the Private Sector Commission’s 34th Annual General Meeting at the Guyana Marriott Hotel on Friday, Singh said Guyanese businesses should begin positioning themselves beyond the domestic market and seek to establish a presence in regional and international economies.

“I will tell you all of the big regional conglomerates, all of the big regional conglomerates started as a family-owned business, or as family-owned businesses. The big regional giants like Massey. Regional giants today, they all started as family-owned businesses within a single domestic jurisdiction. Through consolidation and strategic partnerships, through active pursuit of regional markets, they have now grown and expanded into large regional conglomerates with not only a regional footprint but a global footprint,” he said.

Singh’s appeal may raise questions among some local business owners who argue that many sectors within Guyana’s own economy have become increasingly dominated by foreign companies and workers, leaving local firms struggling to access opportunities in their home market even amid unprecedented economic growth.

That reality has fueled concerns about whether Guyanese businesses should first be given a stronger foothold at home before being encouraged to seek expansion abroad.

Singh reminded that the vision President Irfaan Ali has for Guyana is one where Guyanese companies will be the next big regional conglomerates, having a global footprint as many others like Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Jamaica which had emerged in a previous era.

Making his second point he referred to the saying, “…we must fix the roof while the sun is shining and not when it begins to rain”, the minister noted that as far as things on the economic side are concerned, the sun in Guyana is currently shining brightly and in the right way on the business community. “So, from that perspective it is best to fix the roof”.

“For us to continue to grow in the manner that we have been growing, and for us to realise the potential to which we refer, it is absolutely imperative that we are globally competitive, that we not only secure transactions and deals and contracts, but that we are able to deliver them at world-class quality and world-class efficiency.”

Looking at US oil giant Exxon Mobil and what he described as their Tier One contractors, the minister said that this has facilitated a quantum leap in the expectations related to service delivery by Guyanese companies. This is so because they now understand that to win an Exxon contract, or one with one of their top-tier contractors, one must be competitive and be able to deliver on time.  “They have to observe a wide array, a comprehensive array of standards, including health and safety standards and other standards. I’m happy to see that Guyanese companies are rising to the challenge, and they are winning these contracts, as is evidenced by the billions of dollars of local content opportunities that have been secured by Guyanese companies…”

“But we must continue to create even more opportunities for Guyanese companies, so I’m happy and we are happy as a government to see Guyanese companies respond to the expectation by this world-class oil and gas sector of a certain quality of delivery.”

Quality of delivery

Meanwhile, Dr. Singh said the quality of delivery must not only be achieved or obtained only in relation to the oil and gas sector. The minister reminded that the same quality and efficiency displayed for that sector must be observed across the board. There must be “timely delivery of obligations, world-class quality, and observance of standards, this can’t be something that we just hope for the best or we just leave on autopilot.”

He charged the private sector to ensure that businesses up their game and get to the point where they can be world class competitors, including the delivery of goods and services to the Guyanese consumers.

“We in this room are well aware, most of you in this room are private sector owners of companies, entrepreneurs, CEOs of large and medium-sized companies. I don’t think that any of you would be offended, like I said earlier, or even disagree with me that I believe that I am of the view that there is still a lot of room for us to improve the quality of service that we deliver,” he stressed.

The minister went on to say that it was recognized by the government very early on, that transformation mush not only be physical, but there should be transformation in the daily experiences of persons, even when interacting with institutions of state.

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• Finance Minister, Guyanese, investment opportunities, PSC

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