Introduction
On January 28 last, a meeting was held in Linden that could be considered the continuation of a process that started last year to rebuild the region’s economy. It was a fascinating meeting that was hosted by the region and that saw parts of the local business community, investors seeking to participate in some form in the region’s agricultural prospects and technical experts from various disciplines in agriculture. The sincerity and enthusiasm of the participants were unmistakable. Emerging from that meeting was a clear consensus that the region had the potential to become a leading economic development centre of Guyana and the wider Caribbean region. The enthusiasm was sufficiently infectious that participants, young and old, wanted to know how they could get involved. It was reassuring therefore to hear that the region had committed itself to start follow-up work one week after the event. Participation in that meeting provides this writer with the opportunity to articulate some of the thinking that lay behind the hosting of the meeting and the rationale behind the economic thrust and outlook of Region 10.
Vision of Region 10
To understand what is happening in Region 10 requires understanding the forward-looking vision that it has of itself. The leaders of Region 10 see it as becoming the leading economic development centre of Guyana, the wider Caribbean and beyond. This vision which is still to be articulated publicly seeks to establish in the region integrated hi-tech education, research, production, processing, distribution, entertainment, cultural and financial entities to serve the people in and out of this region. The thrust of this thinking is one that would see Region 10 establishing strong and efficiently-run enterprises that employ well qualified personnel and utilize efficient business intelligence and effective decision support systems. There is a firm belief among the leaders that this vision is not only laudable, but achievable as well.
The most obvious and often overlooked reason for thinking of Region 10 in this manner is its geographic placement. Region 10 borders six of the remaining nine regions of Guyana. It could therefore serve as a source of food supply for more than half of the country. When the national population is taken into account, Region 10 is strategically placed to assist in meeting the
