Guyana could become a major gateway for Middle East investments with the creation of a new logistics hub for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) geared at connecting the Middle East country with business opportunities in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, North America, and West Africa.

President of Guyana Dr Irfaan Ali made the statement on Wednesday while visiting the Abu Dhabi Ports’ ultra-modern, temperature-controlled vaccine storage warehouse facility in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, which is also the home of the Hope Consortium at KIZAD and the Khalifa Port.

According to a press release from the president’s office, Ali indicated that the Government is willing to facilitate the project by creating incentives and by ensuring that investments made are feasible for all parties involved.

“We want to be in strong partnerships with Abu Dhabi Ports, seriously connected to opportunities in Brazil in the oil and gas sector, and creating a new logistics hub for the UAE in Guyana. We are ready to work with you on having that deep water port ready for not only Guyana but for the region and for the most important strategic positioning for the UAE in South America, the Caribbean [and] in Latin America. I think we could just think about it as an upscaled Panama [Canal] development,” Ali proposed.

The UAE is a country in the Middle East and has been rated as one of the richer countries of the world. The country, like Guyana, has had massive oil wealth but has also been able to diversify its economy over the years.

The release added that the CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports and owner and regulator of Abu Dhabi’s maritime infrastructure and KIZAD, Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, in response said that his company is “very serious” about investing in Guyana.

There has been many calls for the Caribbean to capitalise on its position to serve major trade corridors and to gain from the expanded transport connectivity. Market access potential for industries is significant as the Latin America and Caribbean region serves a consumer market of approximately 800 million people.

The Government of Jamaica has embarked on implementing a global logistics hub initiative and the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) is positioning the country to capture a greater market share and increase its long-term competitiveness, through its P3+ Industries Framework.

At last update, the team at JSEZA is now in the third phase of the framework, in which they have determined the ‘minimum viable product’ for each industry. It involves laying the groundwork for Jamaica to attract investors and operators in the priority industries list to operate out of and enter partnerships with Jamaican SEZs.

The intention of the hub initiative is to join Rotterdam, Dubai, and Singapore as the fourth node in the international logistics chain.

The global logistics industry is projected to be worth approximately US$12.9 billion in 2027.