Guyana will benefit from US$13.1 million ($2.6b) in development assistance from the US government for this year, following the inking of an agreement between USAID/Guyana and the Ministry of Finance yesterday.
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and USAID/Guyana Mission Director Carol Horning yesterday signed the amendments to agreements outlining development assistance in the areas of Health, Economic Growth and Governing Justly and Democratically. The simple signing ceremony took place in the boardroom of the Ministry of Finance.
A release issued by USAID said that US$8,319, 281 of this sum will be allocated in the area of Health, US$2 million in the areas for Governing Justly and Democratically and US$2,809,000 for Economic Growth.
The sums allocated to health will be used “towards prevention, treatment, care and support and health system strengthening activities in order to strengthen public health systems, and enhance the civil society and private sector responses to HIV/AIDS”.
The money set aside for “governing justly and democratically” is supposed to be used “for activities in support of the improvement of democratic processes and governance institutions and systems” in the country. Some of this money will be used to support voter education as the country heads into elections, Horning revealed while responding to a question. Although unable to give a specific figure, Horning said too that “outside funds” have been identified to support this initiative.
In terms of the funds allocated for economic growth, these will be used for activities designed to increase the participation of Guyanese producers of non-traditional exports in the international marketplace, enhance private sector competitiveness for export development and address Global Climate Change.
Dr Singh thanked the US government for its support over the years and noted that the two countries have shared a close partnership. He said that the areas where the funding had been set aside were priority areas for both countries. Singh said that the specific activities and projects that are entered into are subject to discussion and design efforts that are collaborative.
During brief remarks, Horning said that over the last year there were “notable successes” in the three areas identified for development assistance. Under the push towards Economic Growth, there was the establishment of strategic, export-focused partnerships with private sector firms in the agriculture sector. Consequently, the firms have established contract relationships with 30 small producers to whom they provide technical assistance and guarantee the reliable purchase of commodities. Over the last six months, partner firms have seen a 50 percent increase in the exports of pineapples, melons and butternut squash.
Horning said too that the democracy and governance programme was able to stabilize the electronic court records system at the High Court to prevent loss of data, while substantial progress was made under the USAID Health programme.
Meanwhile, asked what initiatives the government will take to reduce its reliance on extra-budgetary support, Singh said that even as the administration pushes to garner more resources locally, the development partners still had a role to play. He said that over the years, the government has been pursuing development from the standpoint that it has to mobilize as much developmental resources as possible to ensure the greatest possible impact.
“We will not stop working with development partners…notwithstanding that we have made substantial progress in Guyana in terms of achieving macro-economic stability, not withstanding that we have made substantial progress in achieving development in a real sense,” Singh said. “I think there is still substantial work to be done and we as a government are committed to doing this work and a critical part of doing this work will involve continuing to work with development partners to mobilize as much resources as we possibly can., he added. “But at the same time…our domestic resource mobilization efforts will continue at the same time also,” the Finance Minister said.
This is the latest in agreements between the governments of the two countries which could see Guyana receiving a total of US$75 million up to 2013.
