HGP Nightly News – President Irfaan Ali says Guyana’s economic boom is moving so fast that the country now needs more workers than its local labour force can provide.
Addressing members of the Guyanese diaspora in St. Lucia, Ali said the scale and speed of Guyana’s development have created opportunities for Guyanese, regional workers, and investors from around the world.
“The Guyana story is a story that is global now,” Ali said, noting that investors and stakeholders are increasingly seeking meetings because of the country’s rapid rise.
According to the President, Guyana’s transformation can now be seen in its infrastructure, population mix, and national outlook.
But he said the pace of development has also created a serious demand for labour.
“The speed of transformation requires workers that we don’t possess in our natural labour force,” Ali said.
He acknowledged that this brings challenges, but said the government is turning to technology to help the country move faster and deliver services more efficiently.
Ali said the administration is focused on improving the “government experience” by cutting the time citizens spend accessing public services.
He pointed to the rollout of government service centres across the country, saying some transactions that once took weeks can now be completed in minutes.
He said services such as GRA transactions, licence renewals, passports, and digital ID can now be accessed more easily through one-stop locations.
Ali also highlighted the use of Guyana’s digital ID for travel between Guyana and Barbados, calling it part of the country’s wider digital transformation.
The President told the diaspora that government services will also be taken directly to Guyanese communities overseas.
He said many Guyanese abroad have faced challenges accessing biometric passports and other official documents, but a team is expected in St. Lucia on the 11th of this month to provide biometric passport services over five days.
Ali said the government hopes to send mobile government service teams at least once a year to countries with large Guyanese communities.
Those services could include help with NIS matters, birth certificates, replacement documents, and other official needs.
He said the St. Lucia visit will serve as a test case, with diaspora members asked to submit their names, issues, phone numbers, and email addresses so officials can begin addressing their concerns.
Ali also said Guyana is being positioned as a world-class hub for health, energy, environmental services, and food security.
He pointed to major investments in healthcare, saying regional hospitals have been transformed.
In Lethem, he said, serious cases once had to be transferred to Georgetown or patients travelled to Brazil for treatment. Today, fewer than two percent of serious cases are transferred from Lethem, while more people from Brazil are now seeking treatment in Guyana.
The President also highlighted education reforms, including free tuition at the University of Guyana and expanded access to scholarships through the GOAL programme.
He said more than 42 institutions are participating in the scholarship programme and noted that Guyana recently graduated a large number of PhD students through the initiative.
Ali said teacher training has moved online, and Guyana recently completed what he described as the longest-distance robotic surgery in the world at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
He added that the government wants the University of Guyana’s online platform to become available to diaspora members, allowing them to access programmes in areas such as education and nursing.
According to Ali, Guyana’s transformation is not only about economic growth and infrastructure, but also about building stronger families, stronger communities, and a better quality of life.
He pointed to investments in recreational facilities, parks, community infrastructure, street lights, security, and the national safe country programme as part of that wider push.
