Guyana to cash in on Brazil’s World Cup, Summer Olympics

Jan 08, 2012 News

-GMSA eyes cheaper entrepreneur credit, faster Customs’ transactions

-business model to help companies save energy being developed

The Guyana Manufacturing Services Association (GMSA) is expected to start a major business survey on January 17th to determine how companies in Guyana are using energy.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded Energy Efficiency Survey, is one of the top projects of the association this year and it is expected to evolve into a national business model for cost saving.
Already, a number of companies has been identified and briefed.
“The project has been designed to first identify inefficiencies in each company’s power supply applications and consumption patterns and ultimately to recommend the best cost saving technologies and methodologies.”

GMSA President Clinton Williams

According to the Project Coordinator, GMSA’s Executive Board member, Clement Duncan, the findings from the Baseline Survey will be used to create a business model that can be adapted by other manufacturing companies and services providers.
Technical expertise is being provided by Dynamic Engineering Company Ltd. (DECL) and a number of regional energy consultants. DECL has been involved in energy management and conservation in Guyana and overseas for approximately 22 years, GMSA explained.
GMSA made the disclosure during a review of its progress in 2011 and its plans for this year.
Last year has been an hectic one in almost every sector that falls under the GMSA’s mandate, including agro-processing, forestry and wood products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, construction and engineering, minerals and services.
“A wide range of projects funded by international organizations got underway in 2011, all of which are set to gain significant momentum this year. The GMSA spent much of the year just ended creating or strengthening its relations with the lead private sector representative organizations in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) which have been categorized as the emerging global economic behemoths, with the USA and long time partner, Canada.”
With continuous funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), a number of micro and small business owners have benefited from Design Development and Export Market Promotion in Canada.
BRAZIL TRADE
Guyana is also looking to cash in on trade opportunities with Brazil which is preparing to host two major international events – FIFA World Cup 2014 and Summer Olympics 2016.
“…GMSA last year inked a five-year Economic Integration Project with SEBRAE, the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Development Support and Service Organization. The primary objective is to strengthen export sales and enhance production capacity for a wide range of goods and services in Aquaculture, Agriculture and Agro-processing, Maritime Transportation and Transportation Logistics, Craft Production, Cultural Tourism and Education. This project is being executed in collaboration with the Linden, Rupununi and Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and the Private Sector Commission.”
With regard to China, the role which GMSA played in mobilizing the Guyana delegation to the September 2011 Caribbean/China Economic and Trade Forum has evolved into a growing collaboration with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the association said.
“The process of twinning Guyanese entrepreneurs with Chinese counterparts which began with the Economic Forum, will continue into 2012. Our entrepreneurs now have the added incentive of accessing funds from the billion dollar package provided by the Chinese government and which is being administered by the Caribbean Development Bank.”
GMSA also said that it is working in Guyana with all parties in the ongoing controversy over the wholesale export of logs which has created shortages of the more popular species of wood for in-country production of furniture and value-added products.
“The issue remained unresolved at the beginning of 2012 and no effort will be spared to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion in the shortest possible time, the Association’s President, Clinton Williams, said.
Demerara Port
He also signaled that the association will throw its weight behind the Shipping Association’s advocacy for a Public/Private Sector partnership to fund the critical rehabilitation and modernization of the Demerara Port and navigational channel that has always been the hub of import and export trade.
“The human resource is as integral to production as the quality of the end product,” Williams stated, adding that his board will intensify their efforts this year to forge a closer relationship between the business and education sectors. “This is to ensure that there is maximum compatibility between the range and competency levels of the skill sets required by the various sectors. These include mineral mining and the anticipated downstream industries that will evolve from oil and gas production in Guyana.”
He made reference to a number of issues that require ‘policy intervention’ including business owners’ access to cheaper credit facilities and a substantial reduction in interest rates at commercial banks; and the much needed implementation of the ‘Single Window Automated’ system by the GRA to substantially reduce trade transaction costs and time.
GMSA is one of the leading business support organizations in Guyana. It is structured to serve as a critical link between the manufacturing and services sectors and the relevant governmental agencies, and to act as a catalyst in accelerating the economic development of Guyana.