The recent disclosure by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CARIBEXPORT) that Guyana will host the 2024 Caribbean Investment Forum, the region’s single largest investment platform, sends a less than discreet message that the country’s long lockout from the ‘front lawn’ of the region, insofar as qualifications to host gatherings designed to (among other things ‘show off’ the Caribbean), could be approaching an end. What the decision signals, unquestionably, is that our Republic may be in the process of being ‘elevated’ to the ‘front yard’ of the Community, the rest of the region now being acutely aware of our ongoing oil and gas-makeover that is now focused heavily on something of an urban makeover.
To outsiders, non-Guyanese, that is, elevation to the status of playing host to the Caribbean Investment Forum is really ‘no big deal.’ Not so Guyana, which, over the years, has been locked out of such positions of privilege because it was felt that in terms of the country’s ability to present the region’s best face, Guyana was simply not – as the saying goes – up to par. It is not, mind you, that our country is bereft of beauty. In fact, away from the coastal region, what remains of the 83,000 square miles of territory that is unquestionably Guyana, none of our sister CARICOM countries can hold a candle to us. But then much of that beauty is hidden away, leaving our ‘front lawn’ scarred and exposed.
Contextually, for Guyana and for Guyanese, the announcement by CARIBEXPORT that the next major regional investment exercise is to be staged here is more than just another routine announcement. It is a signal that in a material sense (and while we are still playing ‘catch up’) we are ‘getting there’ in the throes of a physical image-transformation that is being driven by the country’s relatively new-found oil wealth. The transformation is envisioned to take account of the installation of appurtenances that are indispensable to the hosting of regional and international gatherings… upscale hotels and restaurants, well-appointed conference facilities, establishments that enable what one might call indulgences, like pleasing shopping facilities, places that offer tasteful entertainment, local foods and visitor experiences which, whatever they boast, our ‘tourism-driven’ CARICOM partners cannot match.
Attention to Guyana as a territory into which the bona fide Caribbean visitor experience could be extended could only be borne out of meaningful investment in both shoring up that which had become worn out, dilapidated, or else, what had simply not been created. Visitors must have a reason to visit and in Guyana’s instance, over a protracted period, that reason had become threadbare. Much of the ‘visit Guyana vibe’ has begun to materialize courtesy of the form of the new-found entrepreneurial ‘openings’ that now extend well beyond oil and into niches that had, hitherto, been shielded from plain sight by the overgrowth of underdevelopment in all its various forms, ranging from what, sometimes, was ‘dodgy’ drinking water to roadways that wreaked havoc with mostly ‘second-hand’ cars and an electricity supply service, the reliability of which you wouldn’t bet a Guyana dollar on.
These days, Guyana ‘takes up’ a much greater share of the Caribbean plenty. Simultaneously, the country would appear to be seeking to further underline its still unchallenged credentials as the Caribbean’s regional food basket. Contextually, for Guyana and for Guyanese, the announcement by CARIBEXPORT is more than just another routine revelation, it is a signal that in a material sense (and while we are still playing ‘catch up’) we are ‘getting there.’ Attention to Guyana as a territory into which the bona fide ‘Caribbean visitor experience’ could be extended could only be borne out of meaningful investment in both shoring up that which had become worn out, dilapidated, or else, had simply not been created. Contextually, we must focus our energies on visitors having good reasons to visit.
