It is currently the South American country with the highest rates of economic growth: after the discovery of huge oil deposits nine years ago, Guyana is experiencing an unimaginable economic boom. According to the data of the American company Exxon, the deposits that are subject to extraction in the known oil wells amount to about 11 billion barrels. And this cannot help but affect the local economy as well.
According to statistics portal Statista, which uses data from the IMF and the World Bank, gross national income will grow from US$5.2 billion in 2019 to US$32.7 billion in 2029. Consequently, the country that borders Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname is one of the most dynamic economies in the world at the moment. "It's like the country won the lottery," Diletta Doreti, the World Bank representative for Guyana and Suriname, said in an interview with the BBC.
Qualified labor is wanted
The consequences of this boom are visible everywhere. In the capital, Georgetown, construction is underway, new and new infrastructure projects are being approved. But there is a lack of skilled labor, which is so needed at the moment. That is why Guyana wants to bring back people who have emigrated from the country. Until the discovery of oil deposits in 2015, there was a constant wave of emigration from Guyana, as many people, especially the young, saw no prospects in their homeland.
In just four years, about 50,000 emigrants have already returned to Guyana, reports the local portal "Newsroom", citing the Ministry of Finance. The same trend was registered by the International Organization for Migration. Its data show that in 2016, for the first time in the recent history of Guyana, 1,510 more people came to the country than left it. In 2018, net migration already amounted to 18,150 people.
During his visit to Canada in 2018, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana strongly campaigned for his countrymen to return: "Don't just send money home - come back and invest".
An additional 32,000 people have returned to Guyana over the past two years. With a population of just over 800,000, that's a huge jump.
Meanwhile, the government has adopted a program that offers assistance and support to people who decide to return to Guyana. It also includes a number of incentive tools, such as tax exemptions for qualified professionals.
"I have lived here for almost two years and I can clearly see how the country is changing," says Dileta Doretti of the World Bank. Economic indicators confirm it: if in 2019 investments were 187 million US dollars - mainly in infrastructure projects such as roads and ports, last year they grew to 650 million US dollars.
The dispute with Venezuela
This success story is overshadowed by the territorial claims of neighboring Venezuela, ruled by the authoritarian socialist president Nicolás Maduro. These claims are based on Venezuela's historic border dispute with former colonial power Britain. In a highly contested and highly opaque referendum, Venezuelans approved Maduro's territorial claims.
Since then, there has been a threat of imposing them by military force. Maduro has already ordered the printing of maps showing large parts of Guyana with direct access to oil deposits as belonging to Venezuela. And in fact, many Venezuelans are already in Guyana - they fled there from the repression and the severe crisis in their homeland.