Caribbean Investment Forum 2024 in Georgetown, Guyana: An Overview for Global Investors and Business Leaders

Less talk, more business. That’s what global investors, along with regional business leaders, and innovators can expect from the Caribbean Investment Forum (CIF) 2024 when it is held from July 10-12 in Georgetown, Guyana.

CIF, now in its third year, is an annual forum created by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) that draws global investors to the Caribbean, and presents them with exciting, bankable investment opportunities from across the region. During the launch event held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel on Wednesday, and streamed online, over 300 investors, business leaders and journalists heard how this year’s event has been designed to help secure major investments for regional projects in the critical areas of Technology & Innovation, Sustainable Agriculture, and the transition to a Green Economy.

When asked what makes the region a lucrative investment hub for global investors, Executive Director of Caribbean Export, Deodat Maharaj, explained, “People think of the Caribbean as being small, individual island states. Actually, together with the Dominican Republic, we have a market size of 30 million people, that’s one. Secondly, in the year 2019 before COVID, and we’re seeing the numbers return, we had over 32 million stay over tourist arrivals – this is non-cruise ship visitors. So, when you look at our market size, you’re looking at a market of 60 million. We have free trade agreements with Canada, with the United States of America, with that lucrative half a billion market in Europe, with Colombia, with Costa Rica, with Cuba. Take the Caribbean as a beachhead to access these markets as well. People who are here in Guyana, and viewing us from overseas and thinking about coming to the Caribbean Investment Forum, think size, think scale, think using the Caribbean as a beachhead to access fantastic new markets.”

Head of Cooperation of the European Union’s Delegation to Guyana, Suriname and Caribbean OCTs, Joan Nadal Sastre, said the EU fully supports the forum and its mission. He noted that the EU’s 2022 Global Gateway Strategy was helping to bridge the Caribbean’s investment gap by using EU public financing to “leverage private capital and investment for projects that deliver on key public policy objectives”.

He added: “One thing is clear – the European Union wants to do more business with the Caribbean. We want more EU companies to see the Caribbean as an investment opportunity. We want to be a key business partner for you and we have a lot to put on the table.”

Meanwhile, Guyana’s Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Oneidge Walrond, who gave the feature address at the launch, told attendees and viewers that the region was seeking a particular kind of investor.

“We wish to attract the investor who’s committed to the sustainable development of the countries and communities within which he or she operates and from which they derive value. We seek those who will remain with us through thick and thin and as we experience those inevitable external shocks that are the reality of our Caribbean existence. In short, we wish to see patient investment which prioritises long term returns that emanate from the sustainable, resilient economies that we hope to build, rather than cashing in on short term windfalls. Our ideal investor has a long-term horizon for return on capital as opposed to the infamous quarterly earnings targets which are manifestly ill-matched to the realities of our economies and our existence,” she said.

CIF Guyana 2024 will feature a special app that will allow attendees to book B2B sessions with investors and business leaders. Attendees will participate in plenary sessions, gain insight into thoroughly vetted, bankable projects, and learn more about regional products and services through an investment village and expo which will include booths from companies and start-ups from across Guyana and the wider Caribbean.

CIF is designed to unlock potential investment opportunities within the Caribbean across several sectors. Its objectives are to: raise the visibility of the region as an investment destination; attract investment into the priority sectors identified with a focus on those needed to support the transition of the region to a greener and smarter economy; assemble the international investment community so that agreements can be forged on key priorities that will fast-track the region’s transition; and work towards attaining the sustainable development goals focused on poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, decent work and economic growth, life on land and partnerships.

The event is held in collaboration with respective country governments, the European Union, the CARICOM Secretariat, and the Caribbean Development Bank, with Republic Bank as a platinum sponsor.

(PR)