Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Susan Rodrigues has called on young Guyanese to consider entrepreneurship as a legitimate career path, rather than defaulting to traditional professions or viewing migration as their only route to success. She made the appeal while addressing 265 students from 86 schools at the inaugural GCCI Youth Entrepreneurship Conference on Saturday.

Rodrigues told the students she wanted them to see Guyana as a country where they could build a future, rather than growing up with the expectation of being sponsored by relatives to move abroad. Her comments reflected a broader argument that Guyana's economic transformation will have limited value if young people are not prepared to take advantage of the opportunities it creates.

The conference was organised by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, working in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, and supported by the Ministry of Education and GBTI. It was held under the theme "Igniting Guyana's Next Generation of Entrepreneurs," marking the first event of its kind.

Rodrigues drew on her own experience to illustrate her point, recalling that she did not understand entrepreneurship as a career option when she was the age of the students in attendance. She said she had initially pursued law, following what she described as the familiar path expected of young people at the time, before realising that career did not suit her ambitions. She went on to study for an MBA and entered the business world, later moving into politics.

Much of her address focused on the relationship between government and the private sector. She pointed to the partnership between government, GCCI and GBTI behind the conference as an example of the kind of collaboration she believes will become more important as the economy grows. She argued that responsibility for job creation does not rest with government alone, and that the private sector, through new businesses and the expansion of existing ones, plays a central role in generating employment. The government's task, she said, is to create conditions that allow businesses to grow while ensuring young people have the education and skills to take advantage of them.

She cited ongoing government investment in education, infrastructure, training and access to financing as part of that effort, including support programmes designed to help small businesses build capacity and secure loans.

Rodrigues also cautioned against viewing entrepreneurship purely as a fast route to financial success. She told students that building a business demands patience, discipline and an ability to solve problems, noting that profit is often the last outcome rather than the first. She used the example of Henry Ford to illustrate the point, suggesting that had people been asked what they wanted during the era of horse drawn transport, they might simply have asked for faster horses rather than imagining the automobile. She described entrepreneurship as fundamentally about identifying gaps and problems, then developing solutions for them.

GCCI President Kathy Smith reinforced a similar message during the conference, telling students that every problem represents an opportunity. She shared her own experience of entering business by developing a waterproofing solution suited to Guyana's low-lying environment, encouraging students to look at everyday problems from a different perspective.

Rodrigues pointed to growth areas including technology, agriculture, manufacturing and the creative industries as emerging spaces where young entrepreneurs could find opportunities, provided they are prepared to recognise and act on them.

She also connected her remarks to the wider trajectory of Guyana's development, noting that increased revenue from natural resources brings with it a government responsibility to invest in infrastructure, education and healthcare. At the same time, she said this wealth does not remove the need for individuals to work, innovate and pursue education.

Her closing remarks framed the broader ambition behind the conference: a Guyana where young people choose to remain, work and build their futures at home, rather than treating migration as the default path to opportunity.

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