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By Leonard GildarieRecently, I was having a conversation with a group of Guyanese living overseas and the theme that came through, apart from how proud they are of their country, is their inability to comprehend how such a resource-rich nation could continue toLeonard Gildariebe categorized as a lower/middle income economy.It was pointed out that the country produces rice, sugar, and is rich with natural resources including gold. With oil now discovered, and a population 750,000 it is agonizing that we have managed to remain so far back.While we will have our political differences, rather than consuming ourselves with pitting one group against another or trying to carve out political territories, we should concentrate on coming together and figuring out ways that we can first become a middle income country, then improve to a high income one.I have been mentioning this issue the past week to a number of my close friends and the answer appears to be the same, it is either ‘we cyan get deh’ or ‘boy you dreaming’.But really, what is wrong with dreaming? Dreaming big, and creating a plan to achieve that dream is how people and countries become great. For its 50th birthday, we should endeavour to put our collective heads together and buckle down to make it happen.After all, countries with far less than us have succeeded.Take a look at the often quoted Singapore.  It became independent in 1965.  At its independence it had absolutely no resource. From the per capita numbers, at its independence it had a GDP per capita of US$350. By 2015, the GDP per capita was US$37,000.In Guyana, we need to take a page out of the book of Singapore and examine the factors that helped spur a country that practically just had dirt on the ground to be transformed into a world class, stable economy, with top-end companies vying for a few square feet to set up shop.Singapore’s example would speak of the need for dynamic leadership – people with vision and focus.Lee Kwan Yew, under whom the transformation took place, did not develop his country at the expense of his people. Rather, he ensured that the country also made significant strides in education, having a highly educated workforce, and providing security for its people.Lee was an authoritarian ruler who did not tolerate dissent.Secondly, the country has a welcoming investment environment.It also has a strong and transparent judicial system with a great deal of focus on security.Of course, there is not enough space here for us to assess how and why Singapore got to be where it is, but there are certain salient features that can be identified that we can learn from.Guyana needs leadership with a vision. And while all our leaders may have come into office with the country and its people’s interest at heart, and with great vision,Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale, they soon became bogged down in the day-to-day firefighting and carving out their respective political territories.I would never advocate that we have an authoritarian leader like Lee. We have been down that road; it broke our country and caused division. We are still paying the price.Rather, going forward, all patriotic Guyanese would like to see is a country that stops bickering and starts planning.We need real efforts to make our judiciary strong and transparent. While there have been many interventions within the judiciary to better it, the ordinary Guyanese is yet to see the fruits of that labour.  I am speaking perception here. What we are doing with the judiciary and public security is clearly not working – I encourage our leaders to re-think their strategies. Our leaders have to forget to whom they owe favours.Even more important, we need to put together some type of economic development committee that will focus on a number of areas.So yes, we should not only be focusing on increasing our yields in rice and sugar.How about coming up with ideas to add value to the products? How about better branding?We need to start with thinking about what it is we are good at and expanding the space in which we can be world class experts.An example is Silicon Valley with its IT specialization. Perhaps it may be necessary to get experts, from say, the London School of Economics, to guide us along the process, but we need to think bigger and make things happen.Of course, all of our collective efforts would mean nothing if we cannot foster an enabling environment for investment. This can only be done if we start looking at what is dividing us.  We need to think of ourselves as really one people, in one Guyanese boat that will sink if we do not come together.We are at the eve of our 50th anniversary since we became independent.I think it is about time we start realizing how great this country really can be.