HGP Nightly News – President Dr. Irfaan Ali says Guyana is positioning itself to become a strategic energy and digital hub in the Western Hemisphere, as countries move to strengthen energy security, digital capacity and regional integration.
The President made the statement while delivering the keynote address at the Baker Institute’s Center for Energy Studies conversation series at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
He said global changes in energy demand and technology have created an opportunity for countries in the region to build more secure, connected and resilient systems.
According to President Ali, recent global developments have shown that energy security is not only about producing energy, but also about using that energy domestically to create value, jobs and wider economic benefits.
“One of the things we have learned the last three years in the world is not only about the production of energy, it is how much of that energy you can consume yourself to add value and create multiplier effect within your countries,” President Ali said.
He said Guyana intends to use its growing energy capacity to support national development while also contributing to regional expansion in areas such as data processing, digital services and industrial activity.
The President pointed to major investments in data centres in other regions, including the Middle East, and said those arrangements have exposed the need for greater geographic redundancy within the Western Hemisphere.
“In the Western Hemisphere, we have also seen how exposed the US investment and other investment from this hemisphere was, and continue to be in data centres in the Middle East, with no redundancy,” he said.
Against that background, President Ali said countries in the hemisphere must work together to build common systems and shared infrastructure supported by energy resources, gas development and modern digital networks.
“It is time we in the Western Hemisphere maximise and optimise our potential in creating a common system with common infrastructure that would allow us to grow together in a secure environment,” he said.
He noted that Guyana, Brazil and other countries in the region have a strategic role to play, particularly as gas exploration and energy development create new opportunities for cooperation.
President Ali said Guyana is already laying the groundwork through investments in energy generation, transmission networks and digital systems. These investments, he said, are intended to help the country capitalise on opportunities in data services, industrial development and cross-border integration.
He also stressed that countries seeking to compete in the technology-driven economy must first show that they can use those technologies to improve their own efficiency and competitiveness.
“You cannot position yourself to compete in this sector if your country does not demonstrate to the world that you are applying the output of this sector to improve your own efficiency and competitiveness,” President Ali said.
The President said Guyana’s approach is aimed at strengthening national development while also supporting broader regional growth and security.
