A financial agreement initially signed in 2001 between the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Private Sector Commission (PSC) was yesterday renewed for a further three years.

Yesterday, the Canadian High Commissioner Charles Court and the PSC Vice- Chairman Ramesh Dookhoo, signed an agreement to extend the partnership between the organisations for three more years. The contribution is worth Cdn$208,000. The previous agreement was a Cdn$476,000 sponsorship deal.

Speaking at yesterday’s signing, Court said that the extension of the partnership was “to encourage the adoption of policies that favour growth in domestic and foreign investment in the economy of Guyana.” He stated that this agreement was in keeping with one of the Canadian government’s top foreign policies, which is to form commitments to the Americas, and particularly with Caribbean states. He says that CIDA has made a commitment of Cdn$600M to this region over ten years. This includes commitments to Caricom’s proposal to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with Ottawa, an annual leadership forum, a new Caribbean scholarship programme and other initiatives.

Meanwhile Dookhoo said that the PSC and CIDA “entered into a contribution agreement in which CIDA would fund the development of the analytical capacity of the PSC”.  Further, he stated that CIDA’s assistance to the private sector was “to foster a better enabling environment for Guyana’s private sector in order to improve competiveness and contribute to increased economic growth and poverty reduction.” So far, he said that the contribution by the Canadian government has allowed the private sector to make “a meaningful contribution to government decision making.”

Dookhoo also identified the completion of all 122 steps to give credence to the National Competitiveness Strategy as one of the successes of the partnership. He stated that support for the Commission in the areas of Corporate Governance and taxation was “key to making Guyana a preferred destination for investors.”