GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana Expo 2025 opened here on Thursday night, with President Irfan Ali announcing a US$200 million initiative set to become operational before the end of the first quarter of 2026.
He told the audience that the government’s transformative Guyana Development Bank (GDB), capitalised at a minimum of US$200 million, aims to create financial opportunities for small and medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
” We have started already to put the mechanism in place for the Guyana Development Bank,” he said, adding that “the administrative, legal, and regulatory framework is being crafted”.
He said one of the most impactful features of the soon-to-be-established bank will be its zero-collateral, zero-interest lending system, and that loans up to a predetermined limit will be announced during the budget presentation next year.
Ali said that these loans will effectively remove the single most significant barrier faced by thousands of small businesses and that the government will also introduce a special incentive regime to push commercial banks to increase their support for SMEs.
Under this system, commercial banks will receive incentives similar to those already used for housing finance, but with conditions.
In return, banks must lower their interest rates below 4 per cent and reduce collateral requirements for SMEs, making financing significantly more accessible and affordable.
President Ali said that the Guyana Development Bank will place heavy emphasis on Agriculture and agro-processing, tourism and hospitality, services, and creative industries, as well as any activity linked to value creation and innovation.
“This, of course, will lead to the creation of thousands of business opportunities,” he said.
These sectors are central to the government’s strategy to diversify the economy, boost rural development, modernise production, and generate wealth beyond the oil and gas sector.
Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Susan Rodrigues told the opening ceremony that thousands of SMEs have experienced remarkable growth over the past five years, driven by robust government support.
She said through the Small Business Bureau (SBB), more than 13,000 small businesses were empowered with essential training opportunities.
She said so far this year, “over 2,700 small businesses received training, bringing the total number trained since 2020, to more than 13,000,” and that nearly 4,000 businesses have benefited from small business grants, resulting in an investment of one billion Guyana dollars (One Guyana dollar = 0.004 cents).
Rodriques said this has enabled small businesses to grow into strong, competitive enterprises that thrive in both local and global markets.
“That is the real story of Guyana’s economic growth,” she said, adding that the exposition mirrors Guyana’s dynamic development trajectory, which Guyana experienced since 2020, which was driven by “innovation, investment, and resilience. ”
She urged participating exhibitors to take full advantage of the opportunities presented at the investment forum, saying, “This is your stage, your opportunity to shine.”
She said more than 100,000 visitors are expected to pass through the exhibition, which is being held under the theme “Transformation through Entrepreneurship and Innovation” and focuses strongly on local manufacturing.
Rodriques said that while GuyExpo is supported by the government, the private sector will be integrally involved in the trade exhibition, which was first launched in 1995 and is the longest-standing trade expo in Guyana.
Meanwhile, the President has warned gold miners that the government would shut down their operations if they are caught smuggling the precious yellow metal.
He said that his administration would target gold miners who received government incentives but then smuggled the gold they produced. Ali said incentivised miners should act responsibly and declare their production in keeping with the law.
“Those who still are not compliant with the declaration, we are going to come after you hard and strong. We will find you and you will lose your business,” he said, welcoming the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association’s (GGDMA) backing of a recent crackdown on illegal gold mining operations in the Sand Hills and Toroparu areas by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and the Guyana Police Force.
Several illegal miners and raiders were detained, and several illicit shops and operations were dismantled.
The Association said Guyana must stop activities such as illegal gold mining, illegal shops, human trafficking, gold smuggling, and the sale of illicit drugs, as they had been in the past tied directly to the gangs in Venezuela, including the notorious Sindicato gang.
“At a time when Guyana is under threat from its aggressive neighbour, the country must take all steps to stop activities linked to the financing activities in Venezuela,” the GGDMA said in a statement.
Without naming the miner, President Ali said one gold smuggler caused Guyana’s economy to lose more than GUY$190 billion.
“We must ensure our system does not produce those kinds of people anymore. Our system must be locked in, must be protected, and must be designed to ensure those leakages are removed,” he said.
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