France eyes deepwater port in Guyana to expand European trade

Jun 02, 2026 News

…urges govt. to fast-track project

(Kaieteur News) – France has set its eyes on Guyana’s planned deepwater port as a gateway to expand trade between the country and Europe and has urged the President Irfaan Ali government to fast-track the project.

French Ambassador to Guyana, Oliver Plançon on Friday told the Private Sector Commission (PSC), 34^th Annual General Meeting that France is an integral part of the Caribbean region and has its overseas communities to thank for this.

France eyes Guyana deepwater port to expand trade with Europe

The first French Ambassador to Guyana Oliver Plançon

“Actually, France and Guyana are neighbours, and we fully support the move of our communities in the Caribbean, our French communities in the Caribbean, to join CARICOM, and the upcoming admission of Martinique as an associate member is for us a major development, and French Guiana will most likely be next. Please keep in mind that we are no strangers in the Caribbean,” he reminded.

Ambassador Plançon went on to say that everyone is neighbours, a part of the same region and sharing a largely common culture, with much to offer as was illustrated during the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) conference. While he expressed that he would be very happy if the gap between the English and French speaking Caribbean can be bridged, he warned that the challenges lying ahead must not be overlooked.

“Trade between our countries remains limited, particularly due to connectivity issues. The absence of a deep-water port in Guyana is a barrier to exchanges between Guyana and Europe, as well as the weakness of air connectivity,” the ambassador said.

In the same breath he commended the efforts of a local airline which is working on establishing a route between Georgetown, Paramaribo, and Cayenne, saying that it is a push in the right direction.

In April of this year the Kaieteur News reported that the United States Export Import (US EXIM) Bank has signaled its interest in another key infrastructure development to Guyana, the deep-water port, expected to be constructed in Berbice.

During a meeting with President Irfaan Ali and other Cabinet members at State House, Chairman of the U.S. EXIM Bank, John Jovanovic said a letter of interest was issued to the leader.

This was disclosed by one of the members of the visiting delegation of the bank during a video statement shared by President Ali.

According to the official, “One of the highlights from the lunch was our chairman issuing a letter of interest for the deep-water ports and so this is yet another project in which we can support the infrastructure requirements of the Guyanese people.”

The U.S. EXIM Bank has provided the Government of Guyana (GoG) with a US$527 million loan to finance the Wales Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project.

In a statement, the U.S. Embassy noted that the leaders discussed exciting opportunities ahead. “EXIM stands ready to finance additional development projects that align with Guyana’s national priorities, bringing the same transparency, competitive terms, and reliability that characterise U.S. partnership,” the embassy explained.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

deepwater port, France-Guyana, Oliver Plançon, US-EXIM bank

Latest News