Latest update October 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 15, 2017 APNU Column, Features / Columnists
(H.E. David Granger’s address to the Business Summit of the Private Sector Commission on October 11, 2017)
I addressed the 23rd Annual General Meeting of the Private Sector Commission on June 28, 2015, six weeks after I was sworn in as President.
I called for a Private Sector-led summit to be held “…in the shortest possible time, [so] that we all
come together, politicians, business, trade unions, non-governmental organisations, religious organisations and hammer out a new social contract among Guyanese people taking us over the next five years.”
My concept, then, was that a comprehensive conference could be convened to ensure that the interests of all producers – farmers, fisher-folk, miners, loggers, traders and workers – could be considered as elements of a contract that would be the basis for consultation rather than confrontation.
I congratulate the Private Sector Commission for convening this conference today and look forward to reaching a broad agreement on the way forward for our country.
The government has been working to create an environment which is supportive of socio-economic development that is linked to the objective of ensuring a ‘good life’ for all. I noted that:
The ‘good life’ means the absence of poverty…the presence of equality and the creation of an enlightened citizenry through education…effective stewardship of our natural resources and…employment for our people.
The attainment of the goal of a ‘good life’ requires the reduction of disparities based on geography and ethnicity and the sustained creation of wealth through economic growth and employment.
The private sector is a creator of wealth and a generator of employment. It can work with the government, the labour movement and civil society towards attaining the objective of a ‘good life.’ Three of the elements in Government’s approach to this objective are investment, innovation and the institutional framework.
INVESTMENT
Private sector investment is pivotal to development. Your government, over the past 29 months, has been working to create a more enabling environment for business development by encouraging investment and ensuring stable macroeconomic conditions.
Government, while seeking to fix the economic problems which we inherited, has been actively courting investment and by encouraging the diaspora to invest in Guyana. The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Citizenship have been pursuing increased investment and trade.
Americans, Brazilians, British, Canadians, Chinese, French, Indians, Russians, Surinamese, Turks and Trinidadians are investing heavily here. Guyanese should have no good reason for not increasing investments in their own country.
Investment is the fuel of economic expansion and employment. Government has been encouraging the banking sector to expand its financial services to rural agricultural and hinterland gold-mining and other zones.
Guyana is lagging in the ratio of commercial banks per 100,000 persons but the banking system can become a goldmine of investment funds. Access to affordable capital by local investors will spur investment.
INNOVATION
Increased investments alone will not yield prosperity. Investments must be backed by innovation to create a more competitive economy.
The excessive concentration on primary production has exposed the economy to market volatilities and economic vulnerabilities. The ‘curse’ of the six sisters – bauxite, gold, fisheries, rice, sugar and timber – does not arise from the character of the commodities but in the over-dependency on raw products, the lack of innovation, the absence of diversification and neglect of value-added manufacturing.
These sectors have served us well but failure to innovate and diversify has made us vulnerable to exogenous shocks. A decline in the price of these commodities or a loss of market access often leads to distress.
Guyana – the biggest, most bountiful state in the Caribbean – is blessed with abundant natural capital. Our varied landscape – grasslands, islands, wetlands, highlands, lakes, rivers, rainforests, shell-beaches and waterfalls – are habitats of some of the world’s rarest flora and fauna. These features endow us with a world-class ecotourism and eco-educational product.
The ‘green state’ policy, which emphasises the preservation of our biodiversity, the protection of our environment, the provision of eco-tourism and eco-educational services and the promotion of renewable energy generation and practical measures to ensure climate adaptation, will unleash a whirlwind of investment and innovation.
It could open business opportunities in agriculture, banking, bio-degradable packaging, construction, distribution services, ecotourism, ‘green’ transportation, information communications technology, energy-saving equipment and energy generation from sustainable sources, infrastructure, manufacturing and recycling.
INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
The absurdly anachronistic adherence to the colonial ‘three-county’ system still pervades the public administration system which is being geographically rebalanced. The inherited system of formal laws, informal conventions and regulations that direct the delivery of public services – public education, public health, public security and public infrastructure etc. – and that shape socio-economic activity has to be revised.
Guyana’s regions are the real frontiers of economic development. Capital towns will drive development by promoting business opportunities for the private sector by pursuing economic development and providing economic leadership.
We have established three new towns – Mabaruma, the capital town of the Barima-Waini Region that is nearly four times the size of Trinidad and Tobago; Lethem, the capital town of the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo that is larger than Costa Rica and Bartica, the capital town of the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region that is bigger than the Netherlands. Mahdia will soon become the capital town of the Potaro-Siparuni. Government is working:
– The Ministry of Business is encouraging the resuscitation of regional chambers of commerce to work with their respective RDCs, NGOs and central government to develop regional action plans (RAPs);
– The Ministry of Communities is encouraging the hosting of Regional Agricultural and Commercial Expositions (RACE);
– The Ministries of Agriculture and Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs have intensified their focus on the ‘food economy’ of the hundreds of villages in the hinterland and coastland whose farms feed the nation. The economic revitalization of our villages could reduce poverty and unemployment;
– The Ministry of Public Infrastructure and the GDF Engineer Corps are developing plans to improve bridges and highways to the hinterland; and
– The Ministry of Legal Affairs has introduced legislation aimed at strengthening the regulatory framework and curbing money-laundering and financial crimes.
The reduction of poverty and unemployment is not only a human development imperative, but is also good for business. Lifting people out of poverty increases their participation in the economy, generates employment, enhances citizens’ incomes and creates a higher demand for goods and services.
The economy is being rebalanced, also, by investing in the development of the micro-, small- and medium-size enterprise sector which constitutes half of the economy and is estimated to contribute about 30 per cent of the GDP.
The Government has supported private sector development in a holistic way as part of its broad commitment to improving citizens’ quality of life.
We have ensured macroeconomic stability, encouraged investment and enhanced competitiveness. We have begun, also, the process of rebalancing the economy and public administration to make them more robust and resilient.
The private sector must position itself to take advantage of the emerging economic opportunities. It has the expertise and the experience to drive economic development. It can count on the government’s support.
October 1st turn off your lights to bring about a change!
Oct 19, 2024
– Major step in Guyana’s football development By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sprots – A momentous occasion in the development of football in Guyana took place yesterday with the...Guyana’s shift into the US orbit Kaieteur News – For decades, Guyana prided itself on an independent foreign... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]