Dr. William Warren Smith, who officially assumed office as the fifth President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) on May 1, was on Wednesday met and formally welcomed to Guyana by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh.
Singh congratulated the new president on assuming the highest office within the Bank and reassured him of Guyana’s continued support, the Government Information Agency (GINA) said. Guyana is the first country to have been visited by Dr. Smith, since he assumed presidency of the institution.
Development challenges that have had an impact on Guyana’s economy, including vulnerabilities to natural disasters and climate change, were high on the agenda during the meeting. GINA also said Singh took the opportunity to draw attention to Guyana’s progress over the years with regards to the strengthening of the domestic economy and investments made in the economic and social infrastructure, which the bank has supported.
Programmes that were funded by the CDB include the US$7.5 million Technical and Vocational and Education Training Project; the US$16.4 million Community Roads Improvement Project; the US$13.58 million Community Service and Enhancement Project; the US$28.23 million Skeldon Sugar Modernisation Project; a US$13.5 million BNTF5 programme; and most recently the US$6.7 million BNTF6 programme.
Dr. Smith succeeded Guyanese Dr. Compton Bourne, who officially demitted office on April 30, 2011.
