President Bharrat Jagdeo told Korean investors yesterday that Guyana is ready to provide tax benefits to any foreign business that invests in the development of resource mining and the country’s enterprises, according to a report in The Korean Times.
The President was at the time encouraging local investment as he expressed the desire for Korean businesses to participate in the development of Guyana’s national projects to boost mutual cooperation between the two countries. He told the investors that Guyana has some oil fields and natural gases and that development “is just starting up now, so you can find many business opportunities there. You can even get tax exemption.’‘
According to the report, Jagdeo met senior staff of the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) at a luncheon in Seoul, during which he stated that Guyana is developing at a rapid pace and he believes can provide a number of opportunities for Korean investors. “We welcome foreign investment and our country is a land of opportunity for overseas investors. We have lots of raw materials, such as sugar, gold and bauxite,” Jagdeo was quoted as saying. The report stated that Jagdeo asked Korean companies to become involved in those projects that dealt with oil and natural gas, as he informed them of international oil companies who have already joined development programs in the nation. “Many international oil companies, including Shell and Exxon Mobile, are taking part in the (mining) projects. A US research centre said that Guyana will become one of the major producers of oil and natural gas in 10 years,” he was also reported as saying.
And according to the report, the Korean importers agreed with the President in terms of the economic potential of the nation. “We visited Guyana earlier this year and realized many opportunities in the country. We plan to increase imports of raw materials, such as bauxite, gold and timber,” Oh Jung-nam, executive director of KOIMA, said in the report.
Korean importers also suggested that Guyana provide tourism programmes for Koreans, which will increase relationships between the two countries as well as business opportunities. “There are many Korean tourists travelling all over the world. If Guyana can attract them, the nation may get many benefits. Providing package tourism programmes, which combine other Caribbean countries with our country, could be one option,” Kim Wan-hee, chairman of Trico International and former chairman of KOIMA, said.
The newspaper further reported Jagdeo as saying that Guyana had been troubled by unstable political situations, but now the country has achieved a democratic political system, and wants to leap forward as an economically strong country.
