NOT SERIOUS ABOUT BUSINESS

Sep 15, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Over the years, there have been persistent complaints from the private sector and investors about how difficult it is to do business in Guyana. It has been a frustrating experience for them to deal with a cumbersome Government bureaucracy which is known for the inordinate delays in issuing business licenses.
But this was not the case with the Chinese Company, Bai Shan Lin Forest Development Inc. which had an iron grip on the country’s forests and mining sectors.
The government has to be careful not to attract companies like Bai Shan Lin, which was given hundreds of millions of dollars in duty free concessions. In return, Bai Shan Lin had promised to build a modern, wood processing factory in Linden that would have created jobs for the locals. After ten years in operation, the business practices of Bai Shan Lin became questionable. It did not build the processing factory. Instead, it expanded its operations to other sectors.
Bai Shan Lin’s track record of wrongdoings has been exposed and its fate has finally been decided by the government. While the government was in the process of seizing its forest concessions and its vehicles, it was discovered that Bai Shan Lin had over-extended itself and was short of cash since 2014.
As a result, it has racked-up hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. It reportedly owes tens of millions of dollars to small loggers in several Regions.
The development of a thriving business sector in Guyana has been the source of great wealth and prosperity for the country. Attempts by various governments to diversify the country’s economy away from its present overdependence on rice, sugar and bauxite have failed. Had it succeeded, it could have had immense potential on the economy and the development of the country.
The recent discovery of oil and the potential impact it could have on the economy could be the beginning of the diversification process.
However, for diversification to succeed, the government must make it easier to facilitate business. The challenges which the business sector faces today, particularly the bureaucratic red-tape are similar to those of the last 50 years. Simply put, there has been very little change, even though the concerns of the business sector were brought to the various governments’ attention time and again.
This is a serious indictment of the various governments that have administered the affairs of the country. They have done very little to speed-up the licensing process, yet they have hailed the importance of investment and the private sector’s role as the engine of economic growth that generates revenues, create jobs and improve the lives of people.
It seems that bureaucrats are not sensitive to the urgent needs of business. They are either preoccupied with control or they simply have an inherent bias against business. The government needs to relax the excessive regulations that are the major obstacles to investment. There are too many delays in getting work permits and certification from the various government entities and too lengthy delays in getting the courts to resolve business disputes.
These issues have been around for a very long time which clearly implies that the government is not serious about addressing them. And while it is important for the government to do due diligence to verify that the investment it is attracting is sound, the extent of delays is unreasonably too long.
If this state of affairs is allowed to continue, Guyana may find itself in the unfortunate situation of being unable to attract businesses. Countries are willing to do whatever is necessary to create a conducive environment for business. The time has come for the political directorate to grab the bull by the horns and fix the problem.
With his no-nonsense approach, the Minister of business seems ideally suited to change the existing structures that are stifling opportunities for economic growth.

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