President David Granger lobbied the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), during a meeting held on Friday on the sidelines of the Conservation International Annual Board Meeting in Washington D.C.
A release from the Ministry of the Presidency said that the Head of State met with Graham Watkins, Principal Environmental Specialist at the IDB and Juan Pablo Bonilla, Manager of the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Sector and contended that an investment in Guyana and the Guiana Shield, as a whole, is a good investment.
In an invited comment, following that meeting, Granger said, “The Guiana Shield is the single most important zone of biodiversity in the world today and it is much better than anything you can find in Africa or Asia in terms of the richness of its biodiversity. So that’s a big plus and of course Guyana is central. Despite its relatively small size in relation to Brazil and Venezuela, Guyana is a central part of the Shield… In terms of investment horizon, we impressed upon the bank that an investment in the Shield, an investment in Guyana would be a good investment for it.”
With reference to potential investment areas, the release stated that the President said that the priority areas for Guyana are institution building, bolstering Guyana’s institutional capability and infrastructural development, particularly the generation of sustainable energy.
The IDB officials also identified agriculture and forestry as other investment possibility areas.