The AFC is committed to developing Guyana’s manufacturing sector

Feb 22, 2015 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

By Dominic Gaskin
For the last two decades, there has been no real commitment on the part of Government to develop a competitive manufacturing industry in Guyana. The PPP-C Government simply lacks the vision, the will and the capacity to reduce this country’s dependence on primary products for the bulk of its foreign earnings. It’s what they came and met. It’s all they know.

Dominic Gaskin

The Alliance For Change (AFC) is committed to the development of strong value-added sectors within Guyana’s economy in order to increase foreign earnings and create jobs and opportunities for our citizens. The current Administration is clearly of the view that what it cannot conceive the Guyanese people do not deserve, and that we should therefore be content to pedal along at their pace.
The AFC understands the importance of an independent and robust private sector that is capable of driving economic growth. The AFC also understands the importance of translating economic growth into national development, and the long-term vision that this requires. To this end, it is prepared to encourage and facilitate the transformation of various sectors that have the potential to diversify our economy and add value to our natural resources.
One such sector is the jewellery sector and the AFC has committed itself to the development and modernization of this industry. By the year 2030, Guyana can become the jewellery capital of the Atlantic. This is no idle dream, but rather an ambitious and achievable developmental goal for a neglected and unregulated industry with enormous potential.
Guyana has a long tradition of goldsmithing and is still regarded within the region as a good source of gold jewellery. This can easily be exploited and will serve as a useful springboard for a sustained effort to target mainstream international jewellery markets on this side of the globe.
It is important to understand that, left to its own devices, the local jewellery manufacturing sector is unlikely to develop into a progressive and competitive industry capable of penetrating foreign markets. The fact that it hasn’t happened yet after over a century of existence supports the need for intervention.
The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) is currently the agency responsible for regulating the jewellery sector, but lacks the expertise to bring about its development. The GGMC employs dozens of highly qualified persons in areas such as mining and petroleum engineering, but not a single expert in any aspect of the jewellery industry. This is perhaps an indicator of its priorities and doesn’t bode well for a value-added agenda.
The AFC is of the view that it is well within the remit of this agency to invest, not only in acquiring the necessary in-house expertise to effectively promote the well-being of an industry it purports to regulate, but in preparing a strategy to make Guyana a world-class jewellery venue by 2030. We know the funds exist.
The concept of value-added can be limiting without a peek at the bigger picture. In this case we are confronted with an extractive industry which exports an unprocessed mineral, and are seeking to increase our foreign earnings by adding value to that mineral by processing it prior to exportation. Logically, therefore, we wish to convert our gold into jewellery and then export it. This in itself will not create a modern jewellery industry, since gold jewellery is only one of a range of products that make up the mainstream jewellery trade.
This is where the vision is key, and the AFC’s vision of a world class jewellery sector by 2030, is for Guyana to become the supply hub for the Caribbean area and its periphery, as well as northern South America.
Guyana is well positioned to insert itself into the global jewellery supply chain by providing access to regional markets for European and Asian jewellery producers. With the right strategies in place, Guyana can become an attractive wholesale venue linking buyers and sellers of a wide range of jewellery products. Concessions can also be offered to foreign producers willing to set up manufacturing operations in Guyana. Local producers meeting certain criteria must enjoy similar concessions so that they can improve and expand their operations.
A programme of training for various aspects of the trade must be introduced locally and an action plan to develop and modernize the industry must be crafted.
The AFC is committed to carrying out a comprehensive analysis of this sector, and engaging industry professionals in order to create an action plan for the jewellery sector. The AFC is also committed to pursuing any legislative interventions necessary for the implementation of such an action plan. If required, sections of the Mining, GGMC, Gold Board, Customs and VAT Acts, among others will be reviewed and amended so as to encourage investors and industry operators to pursue legitimate objectives within the realm of the action plan. Where it can be shown that sections of these Acts provide a disincentive to the legitimate development of the jewellery industry, and that the economic benefits of developing the industry far outweigh any benefits that the Government would realistically forego by their revocation, then they will be revoked or amended.
Also crying out for intervention is the lack of a gold refinery in Guyana. Once again it is clear that the current government is unable to conceptualize a refinery within its four-walled mindset and therefore sees it as an extravagance. There are countless benefits of having a gold refinery operating in Guyana, but for the development of a modern jewellery manufacturing industry, the availability of refined gold and refined gold products is imperative, and a local refinery would be an asset.
There are a number of areas which need to be addressed in any plan for the industry. These include marketing, security, financing, insurance, standards and quality, shipping and handling. None of these areas present challenges that cannot be overcome by a combination of sensible policies, strategies and a will to succeed.
The vision of a modern and competitive jewellery industry employing ten thousand persons and exporting in excess of US$500M annually by the year 2030 is an entirely possible one. The development of an action plan to make this happen will cost a pittance compared with the benefits of such an achievement.
An ambitious government can make Guyana the jewellery capital of Atlantic by 2030. The AFC has the ambition. The current administration does not.