US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg says Washington sees Guyana as a potential strategic trade and logistics link between northern Brazil and the Caribbean, as discussions with President Dr Irfaan Ali focused on investment opportunities in infrastructure, energy, tourism and mining.
Helberg met with President Ali at State House on Wednesday, where talks centred on strengthening Guyana-US relations, particularly in the areas of energy security, logistics and private investment.
Speaking with local media afterwards at the US Embassy, the American official said the Trump Administration is reassessing its global trade relationships and views Guyana as a country with major long-term economic potential.
“We are currently recalibrating our trading relationships and making very affirmative, deliberate decisions on who our most trusted partners are going to be, and we’re very excited to come here and really see first-hand for ourselves the breadth of opportunity that there is in Guyana,” Helberg said.
He added that the US is interested in partnering with Guyana on infrastructure, technology, agriculture, transportation and energy projects.
According to Helberg, discussions also examined how Guyana could become a key logistics corridor connecting northern Brazil to the Caribbean, reducing shipping delays and improving trade access.“…connecting northern Brazil to the Caribbean through Guyana really has an opportunity to shrink time delays by several orders of magnitude.
So, it was a very, very positive exchange on opportunities that could actually be unlocked fairly easily with the right level of business certainty,” he stated.
Guyana has been advancing plans to strengthen regional connectivity through major projects such as the Linden-to-Lethem Road upgrade and the development of a deep-water port.
The US official also pointed to investment prospects in Guyana’s bauxite industry, noting that improved infrastructure and modern technologies could help increase exports to international markets.
“We talked about the opportunities around bauxite and expanding Guyana’s economic activities in the bauxite sector with additional private investment,” Helberg explained.
He said discussions extended beyond bauxite to include the possibility of untapped mineral reserves across Guyana.
“We both understand that Guyana is a country with a lot of natural resources, and so it’s not a leap to consider that there are probably many more types of minerals that could be available if proper surveying is done,” he noted.
Helberg further revealed that talks covered opportunities in tourism, agriculture, entrepreneurship, data centres and technology.
“We talked about energy, we talked about minerals, we talked about data centres, we talked about agri-tech and food tech, and we talked a lot about entrepreneurship,” he said.
The US official disclosed that both sides may establish a working group to ensure continued engagement and follow-up on investment initiatives.
“We want to accelerate private investment and really make Guyana one of the most prosperous economies in the western hemisphere, which it really has the potential to be,” Helberg added.
Helberg’s visit forms part of a wider Caribbean and South American tour aimed at advancing US interests in energy security and critical mineral supply chains.
Also participating in the State House discussions were Ministers Dr Ashni Singh, Hugh Todd, Vickram Bharrat and Zulfikar Ally, along with Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud, Director of the National Intelligence and Security Agency Colonel Sheldon Howell, and US Ambassador to Guyana Nicole Theriot.
