H.E President, Co-operative Republic of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali
The International Building Exposition is back, and with a bang! This year’s activity promises to be an eye opening and jaw-dropping event.
The return of the Building Expo comes after a recess of a few years and the unwelcome intrusion of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The International Building Exposition is therefore expected to reignite local interest in and stimulate further investment in the building construction and public infrastructure sectors.
The Exposition will highlight the nexus between our national transformative agenda and the construction sector. We are resolutely committed to our original goal of distributing more than 50,000 house lots by 2025, and we are securely on course to realize this ambition.
At the same time, and in spite of the global supply-side crisis, we are pressing purposefully ahead with plans for revolutionizing the country’s transportation network of roads, bridges, aerodromes and riverine and marine craft. Building Expo 2023 sheds the spotlight on innovations and other developments in the home, commercial and industrial construction sub-sectors and their role in propelling the national transformative agenda.
Building construction is a core element of our national transformative agenda. Our country’s landscape will be transformed not only by the edifices which are being and will be erected but by the infrastructural network which will connect all corners of our country. Our people-centered approach to development means that every family will be provided with the opportunity to own their own home by the turn of the next decade.
The Exposition will accelerate this unfolding agenda. It will be of benefit to all. For investors it provides them with an opportunity to not only highlight their products but also to identify business opportunities. For consumers, the Exposition will showcase the variety of building options, supplies, technologies and services which are or can be made available to them.
With an anticipated surge in building construction expected over the next 3 years, we have assembled a team of capable Guyanese, under the direction of the Minister of Housing, to organize and manage the International Building Exposition 2022. I am confident that the team will execute its mandate with the usual trademark competence and efficiency.
I thank the exhibitors for their participation, our foreign guests and visitors, and I encourage all citizens to be part of what promises to be Guyana’s biggest and best building Exposition ever. I wish every success to the International Building Exposition 2023.
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Hon. Collin Croal, M.P, Minister, Ministry of Housing and Water
Guyana is among the top five countries with the fastest growing economy in the world. The developing oil and gas sector coupled with the explosion in the construction sector has brought new demands for more modern designs and sustainable options for office spaces and houses. This obvious dynamism is due in a large part to our government’s direct interventions to boost the sector out of its once stagnant phase.
As the government’s forges ahead with building ‘A One Guyana’, the housing and construction sector will continue to play its part in building the nation’s economy. Building Expo 2023- A new frontier for building ‘A One Guyana’ should be seen as a platform for building new synergies with Government, local and foreign stakeholders.
The One Guyana we envisioned cannot be built in isolation from the various sectors, our partners and the world at large. Our intention is to provide new options for home builders, introduce cutting edge technology and building materials which will accelerate our housing and infrastructure drive. Building Expo 2023 will put investors, contractors, home builders and financial institutions in the same space; where much needed dialogues can take place. From a Ministerial level we will continue to implement measures that will make homeownership easier for all citizens.
Access to credit for first-time home buyers is becoming more readily available as more banks choose to provide loan solutions that are easier on our citizens’ pockets. Since re-taking office in August 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Water has allocated over 11,000 house lots to low, moderate, middle, and high-income applicants, indicating a high demand for the services and products available at this Expo. It is my hope that International Building Expo 2023 will change the way we approach construction and be a catalyst for the introduction of new and innovative building and construction practices. I am looking forward to meeting all of you. I wish to thank you for your participation; rest assured that our team will ensure that you have a memorable experience.
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Hon. Susan M. Rodrigues, M.P, Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water
After prolonged stagnation, the housing sector has been revitalized and rejuvenated under our government. We have fulfilled all of the commitments and targets of our first year in office, including the allocation of 10,000 house lots. Our focus has been primarily on helping our citizens achieve home ownership through policy measures, such as zero-rating locally produced building materials, increasing the mortgage interest relief ceiling from $15 to $30 million, and facilitating the increase of the low income loan ceiling from $8 to $15 million, among others.
We also embarked on an aggressive housing construction drive which has seen 842 low, moderate and young professional homes being constructed in just nineteen months. We have expended $20 billion in creating new housing schemes and upgrading existing schemes thus far, and plan to invest a further $10 billion in 2022. This massive investment in infrastructure and housing construction is directly reflected in the 29.8% recorded growth in the construction sector for 2021 and $5 billion increase in real estate loans issued by commercial banks. With our established track record in providing affordable housing, the people of our country can look forward to what will be, possibly, the largest transfer of wealth from government to people as we fulfill our promise of 50,000 house lots by the end of our first term. I am pleased therefore, to exhibit the work of the ministry and its partners in the private sector at International Building Expo 2023.
