GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Oct 31, CMC – Guyana is seeking to attract more British companies as trade between the two countries expands, with total bilateral trade reaching approximately £6 billion (US$8 billion) over the past five years, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said.
Addressing Guyanese and British business leaders during a business engagement held as part of King Charles III’s state visit on Friday, Singh said trade had grown from about £350 million (US$469 million) in 2021 to approximately £1.7 billion (US$2.3 billion) last year.
He said Guyana had become the United Kingdom’s largest trading partner in the Commonwealth Caribbean, accounting for almost half of Britain’s trade with the region.
“Guyana is open for business, and we want to see more British companies doing business in Guyana,” Singh told the gathering at Jewelz by King’s Hotel on Waterloo Street.
He also pointed to the growing support provided by UK Export Finance (UKEF), noting that its country ceiling for Guyana had increased from £750 million (US$1 billion) in 2021 to £2.1 billion in 2024 (US$2.8 billion), £3 billion (US$4 billion) in October 2025 and £3.5 billion (US$4.7 billion) currently.
Singh described the increases as a vote of confidence in Guyana’s economic performance, prospects and creditworthiness.
He said the financing facility was available to both the Government and private sector importers in Guyana through direct lending or guarantees for borrowing.
The minister also highlighted UKEF’s willingness to finance up to 100 per cent of a project’s value, subject to a minimum British content requirement of 20 per cent.
Singh said Guyana’s country risk classification under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had recently been upgraded from Category 5 to Category 4, the country’s second upgrade in four years.
He said the change would lower the risk premium on officially supported export credit for Guyanese transactions, making British goods and services purchased through UKEF more competitive.
Among the projects receiving UKEF support is a €61.43 million (US$68.8 million) loan from Santander Bank for construction of a new arrivals terminal at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
Singh said the upgraded terminal facilities would enhance Guyana’s tourism, trade and investment prospects.
He also cited support for the Guyana Fire Service’s equipment fleet upgrade, while pointing to other UK-backed projects, including the Linden to Mabura Hill highway, funded through the UK Caribbean Infrastructure Fund.
The 121-kilometre all-weather road is the first phase of the Linden to Lethem corridor, which Singh described as an important trade route in northern South America.
He said plans to extend the road to the Berbice coastline, where a deep-water port and industrial complex are envisaged, would create further opportunities for British companies.
Singh identified oil and gas, extractive industries, infrastructure, agriculture, services, aviation and tourism as sectors offering investment opportunities.
He said British companies could pursue these opportunities in partnership with Guyanese businesses and nationals, with UKEF expected to play a role in supporting future projects.
The business engagement brought together British and Guyanese private sector representatives, including UK High Commissioner to Guyana Joseph Fisher, UK Trade Commissioner for Latin America and the Caribbean Amy Barklam, UKEF Chief Executive Officer Tim Reid and representatives of the British Chamber of Commerce, Private Sector Commission and Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
King Charles is in Guyana for a two-day state visit, his first to the country as monarch and his first since February 2000, when he visited as Prince of Wales.
CMC/ed/2026