CDB praises Guyana's decision to pay greater attention to digitization

The Government of Guyana plans to pay greater attention on digitization, in order to make doing business here easier as well as to transform several sectors of the economy.

This effort was recently hailed at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in Canada.

A release from the Finance Ministry noted that the Canadian Minister of International Development and the current chairman of the CDB’s Board of Governors, Ahmed Hussen, recognized the government’s effort in the area of digitalization.

Digitalization is one of the top ten areas identified by Governors of the Region for attention during the next five to ten years. The other top areas include Disaster-Prevention, Preparedness and Emergency Response, Climate Action, Capacity Building, Education, Health, Environmental Protection, Renewable Energy, Digitalization, Water and Sanitation and Agriculture.

In March this year, Canada supported Guyana’s Digital Skills Initiative Programme. That programme aims to provide digital skills training to over 2000 Guyanese and upon completion, it is expected that participants emerge as developers, equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary for the digital landscape.

“Guyana has been developing at a rapid rate with the Government of Guyana already focused and implementing a number of programmes and projects in the above listed areas to transform its economy. It is the country leading CARICOM’s Food Security agenda ‘25 by 2025’ which seeks to reduce CARICOM ‘s food import bill by 25 percent by 2025,” the Finance Ministry said.

This year’s annual meeting focused on the importance of regional and international collaboration as a driving force for sustainable development. Discussions also focused on gender equality, economic growth, private sector engagement and financing, disaster preparedness and how the financial institution can respond to the call for change as well as support the region’s development goals over the next ten years in spite of the challenges faced by the region.

The release from the Finance Ministry noted that the government will also continue to recognize the important role that Guyana’s forest plays in not only the development of the country but in combatting the global impact of climate change explaining that the Government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030 sets out a vision for monetizing the climate and ecosystems provided by our standing forest while accelerating the country’s economic development along a low carbon trajectory.