Peter Ramsaroop appointed new head of Go-Invest

THE Board of Directors of the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) has appointed well-known Economist, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the agency.
Dr. Ramsaroop, who is a seasoned senior executive with significant experience in business, economics and politics, will replace Owen Verwey as head of the agency.
The appointment comes days after President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, said progress is expected on all fronts in 2021, a year of investments and development.
Dr. Ramsaroop is expected to lead efforts in both Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and Local Content Investments (LCI).
The economist brings to the table a wealth of experience in the area of economics, as he served as the Economic Advisor to the former President and current Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo. He also served in the United States military and is a decorated War Veteran.

Dr. Ramsaroop holds a Ph.D. in Management and Public Policy and an MBA with emphasis in economics and technology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.  He also has two associate degrees and a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance/Management from Park University, Parkville, Missouri.

He also held faculty appointments at Belleville Area College and City Colleges of Chicago and was also an associate professor at the Department of Defense Uniformed Services, University School of Medicine; an adjunct professor at Webster University’s Department of Health and Information Technology; and he currently lectures at the University of Guyana.
Ramsaroop has held senior executive positions including chairman of Evolvent Inc. a leading Cyber Security Company in Washington DC; chairman and CEO of ‘RoopGroup’ Investments; and Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating officer for UltraLink, a fortune 500 company.

When contacted about his recent appointment, Dr. Ramsaroop told the Guyana Chronicle that he is excited to lead the charge in driving growth and investments.
President Ali, in his inaugural speech, had said: “We want to build a Guyana that is ripe with business opportunities, humming with employment expansion and growing perennially in prosperity.”

EXPANSION OF LOCAL INVESTMENTS
Dr. Ramsaroop plans to actualise Dr. Ali’s vision by attracting FDIs and facilitating the expansion of local investments.
“We will balance our approach to ensure that our local entities get the opportunities to build capabilities and capacity and our employment numbers rise so our people could see a better career progression and earn higher incomes,” said the economist, adding that ‘hundreds’ of companies from around the world already have their ‘eyes’ set on the local market.
Considering the increased interest in the local market, Dr. Ramsaroop said: “I see us quickly doing a gap analysis on the sectoral investment needed such as in agriculture, tourism, and infrastructure so we can attract and guide the investors in addition to matching them with our local providers.”

The new CEO also plans to assess the existing policies, infrastructural bottlenecks, supply chain issues and workforce deficiencies in order to make Guyana more conducive for business.
Trinidadian Senior Economist Dr. Roger Hosein, in an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle, had said: “Doing business in Guyana is way, way too difficult in terms of the international comparison or even in terms of the Caribbean comparison.”

Dr. Hosein explained that Guyana must do its “homework” on how to improve the ease of doing business here; if the country is successful in this bid, greater private capital injection and foreign capital injection will be facilitated. Moreover, the country would be better poised to target its diaspora to help boost economic activity by direct participation, human capital formation, or financial capital flows.

A country’s ease of doing business is determined through the use of numerous indicators. These include: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.
“As the Chief Investment Officer for Guyana, my goal is to work with all our Government agencies and the private sector to make our slogan, ‘Guyana is open for business’, a reality… and I will add, come grow with us to this slogan” said Dr. Ramsaroop.

Go-Invest’s mandate is to contribute to Guyana’s economic development by promoting and facilitating local and foreign private-sector investment and exports in accordance with the country’s approved investment and export strategies.

This agency is divided into two divisions, one responsible for investment facilitation and promotion, and the other for export promotion.