President Dr. Irfaan Ali says Guyana is preparing to leverage its growing energy resources to become a competitive player in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital innovation across the Western Hemisphere.

While delivering remarks at a recent international event, President Ali said energy-producing nations must focus not only on extraction but also on domestic value creation through technology-intensive industries.

“One of the things we have learned the last three years is not only about the production of energy, it’s how much of that energy you can consume yourself to add value,” he said.

The Guyanese leader pointed to opportunities in data centres, advanced processing industries and digital infrastructure as areas where Guyana can generate significant multiplier effects.

He said recent geopolitical developments have highlighted vulnerabilities in current global digital infrastructure arrangements, particularly heavy concentration in other regions.

“Today with Brazil, Guyana, and in this region where you have strategic gas exploration, we now must rethink this strategy.”

The President praised growing efforts to prioritise Western Hemisphere economic integration and said Guyana is building systems to take advantage of this emerging shift.

“It is time we in the western hemisphere maximize and optimize our potential in creating a common system with common infrastructure.”

He said Guyana is already investing in infrastructure that will support technological advancement and digital competitiveness.

This includes integrating energy expansion with broader plans for digitization, governance modernization and artificial intelligence adoption.

“This investment allows us to leapfrog Guyana…because you can’t position yourself to compete in this sector if your country does not demonstrate to the world that you’re applying the output of this sector to improve your own efficiency and competitiveness,” he said.

According to the President, the use of AI and digital systems within government and industry is essential if the country is to attract international investment and compete globally.

“You can’t position yourself to compete in this sector if your country does not demonstrate to the world that you’re applying the output of this sector to improve your own efficiency.”

He said Guyana’s objective is to move ahead of traditional development timelines by using energy wealth to accelerate modernisation.

He framed this as part of a broader economic transformation strategy designed to position Guyana as a forward-looking innovation hub.

“We are building out our infrastructure and our system to position Guyana to maximize the benefit from this new opportunity,” he said.