A MALAYSIAN conglomerate and a Guyanese firm have agreed to begin construction by November on a 220-room luxury hotel in the Latin American nation, a few metres from the botanical gardens in the capital Georgetown.
Malaysia's Berjaya Group and Guyana's Continental Hotel and Resorts Ltd signed the US$15-million contract last week.
Officials said the four-star hotel, expected to be completed in mid-1997, would have entertainment and sporting facilities, an international conference and business centre and a health spa.
Officials also were predicting that the hotel's proximity to the gardens would boost the South American country's growing environmental tourism industry.
The Berjaya Group says it owns 12 hotels in Mauritius, the Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Fiji.
The hotel contract comes after Guyana's President Cheddi Jagan visited Malaysia late last year.