President Ali announces major film industry investment as part of Guyana’s 60th Independence plans
President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has announced plans for significant investment in a local film industry as part of a wide-ranging push to make Guyana’s 60th Independence anniversary a landmark year for culture, tourism and national identity.
Speaking recently, the President said the 60th anniversary will be used to deploy Guyana’s “orange economy” on a scale never before seen in the region, with culture and creative industries taking centre stage.
“On this sixtieth anniversary, I want it to be known as an era in which our orange economy, which includes our culture, our ecosystem, our food, our people, our artists, our artistic skills, is deployed at a scale and magnitude never seen anywhere in this region before,” President Ali said.
A key pillar of that vision, he revealed, will be direct investment in building a local film industry and entertainment hubs to provide sustainable income for creatives.
“We’re going to invest heavily in creating a film industry here to create entertainment hubs in which our local artists can have structured form of income,” the President stated.
The President explained that the cultural push will be closely linked to tourism expansion, including efforts to attract major international cruise lines to Guyana.
“Working to expand our tourism product, but importantly, trying to get major cruise lines to come to Guyana. That is why we have to develop and continue to develop this avenue,” he said.
President Ali also disclosed that he has already asked the private sector to align its corporate social spending with the orange economy during the anniversary year.
“And I have already asked the private sector to direct all their social expenditure as much as possible towards the orange economy this year,” he said.
Describing the 60th anniversary as a “grand homecoming,” the Head of State said the celebrations will be designed to encourage Guyanese living abroad to return home through a packed calendar of national events.
“Our sixtieth anniversary will be a grand homecoming. It’s an event-packed year in which we want to have all our Guyanese brothers and sisters coming back home to visit, to spend time. But that has to be driven by events,” President Ali noted.
He added that the military, cultural agencies, tourism stakeholders and local artists are all involved in planning activities, with the anniversary woven into every major national initiative.
“So the military has a series of events planned. Culture, tourism, and our artists themselves are working with us. So everything, everything that is national in nature would have our sixtieth anniversary as part of it,” he said.
The President also pointed to physical transformations planned for Georgetown as part of the celebrations, including a historical showcase along Lamaha Street.
“Before the end of the first quarter, walking down this entire Lamaha Street would have the amazing history of Guyana pre-independence. So you’ll be walking through the history of Guyana pre-independence,” he said, adding that “the entire structure from an environmental perspective of Georgetown will change next year.”
