Guyana is looking to deepen its partnership with Qatar, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali said in a wide-ranging interview with Al Jazeera in Doha. He said the move aligns with efforts to diversify the economy, strengthen institutional capacity and position the country for sustained growth beyond oil and gas.
President Ali said Qatar’s development experience is particularly relevant to Guyana’s transformation. “Qatar is an important partner for Guyana, not only from an investment perspective, but from an institutional perspective,” he said. He pointed to Qatar’s experience in diversifying its economy and creating new opportunities, and noted it demonstrates how a country can use its resource wealth to build new economic opportunities and strengthen its position within the global economy.
He said Guyana can draw valuable lessons as it channels its growing revenues into productive investments and expands its economic base. He said the ongoing transformation is already driving growth across the commercial, real estate, mining and services sectors, with increased investment in technology, innovation and digitisation. “We have to build a country that is globally competitive,” the president said.
President Ali stressed the objective is not simply to capitalise on natural resource wealth but to use the opportunity to establish a broader and more resilient economic foundation. Central to that vision is the expansion of the agricultural and environmental sectors, which he identified as areas with significant potential to generate long term economic value. “I want the story of Guyana to be written 10 years from now, 20 years from now, as the most powerful food producer in the world,” he said. He pointed to the country’s forests, biodiversity and natural assets as platforms for expanding environmental services, biodiversity services, ecotourism and nature-based tourism.
The head of state’s engagement in Qatar comes against the backdrop of Guyana’s broader push to forge strategic international partnerships that can support investment, knowledge exchange and institutional strengthening. For Guyana, the objective is to ensure that the current period of rapid growth lays the foundation for a diversified and resilient economy capable of generating opportunities well into the future.
