Berbice businesses urged to invest in non-traditional business

Oct 08, 2018 News

“Reorient and diversify Guyana’s economy,” that’s the challenge that Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin left with Berbicians, while urging them to reduce their reliance on traditional sectors.
The Minister gave this charge during the opening of the fourteenth annual Berbice Expo and Trade Fair.
It was held at the Albion Sports Complex under the theme, “Advancing Economic Progress through Professional Standards and Entrepreneurship”.
The Minister said that, “as Guyana develops, new economic activities will emerge,” noting that “businesses must adapt to a new economic reality”.
Minister Gaskin remarked that “over the next fifteen years, Guyana’s economic transformation will be guided by the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS), which will be the blueprint for inclusive economic and social growth,” adding that “the petroleum sector will drive rapid growth while the Green State Development Strategy will channel this growth across all sectors of the economy.”
Businesses and investors were encouraged to “position themselves to maximize opportunities that will arise, not only from direct participation in the petroleum sector, but from spinoff demand in many other sectors that will follow.”

Some of the booths on display

Minister Gaskin emphasized, “right now, it is very important that we focus on implementing standards and improving the quality of and consistency of what we do.” He explained that Guyana is now “at a junction where we can either go right or wrong” adding that “if we go right, we can enjoy a bigger share of the benefits of the oil that we own.”
Residents were told that two of the most important resources of the future are arable land and fresh water and were reminded that the county of Berbice is rich in both. They were encouraged to “become resilient” and to “think outside the box” when looking at new avenues for development. They were also told to invest in non-traditional businesses in the region and utilise “the abundance of resources.”
He expressed concern that some in the private sector who are not seeing opportunities and are allowing themselves to be distracted “by all the overnight petroleum experts who suddenly know everything about oil and gas and are trying to make bad news out of one of the best things that has ever happened to Guyana, we need to turn this good news into national prosperity”.
Professor Suresh Narine, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of CGX Energy Inc. and guest speaker for the evening, expressed the view that the Liza discovery by ExxonMobil offshore Guyana, “is a fulcrum to be used wisely, not only by Berbicians but by Guyanese in order to look towards the future”.
He asserted that the benefits of oil and gas for the country are tremendous.
But Prof. Narine added, that for that to take place, it is important for Berbicians to articulate what the opportunities are, “…it is important not to sit and to say that our opportunities in Berbice are self evident and therefore we should receive capital. I believe now is the time for Berbicians to organise themselves around ideas, now is the time to organise around initiatives and to make recommendations to central government for the imperative of investment in this country”.
“ARABLE LAND AND FRESH WATER”
The Professor stressed that while the world is struggling with energy “and we are happy” that Guyana has energy to offer, “perhaps the most major challenge in the world today is how do we feed and resource those people?”. According to him, arguably the most important resources of the century are not oil and gas, but rather arable land and fresh water.
“Only through arable land and fresh water can we feed this world. As the world becomes more affluent as 500 million Chinese people in China become middle class, the world is eating more meat. First thing we do when we have disposable income, research has shown, is that we eat more meat, it takes seven units of grain to make one unit of meat, it means that the demand of the world’s arable land is increasing at a rapid rate.”
He expounded that it is at this particular juncture of history, “for us not to get it right now, would be a travesty”.
FOOD IMPORT BILL
According to the professor, close to US $4.5 B is spent on imported food by the English speaking Caribbean countries and with Region Six producing 65% of all the rice grown, the country still struggles for markets for its rice.
“There is something wrong with this equation. We have to demand to our CARICOM partners, CARICOM needs to get it right or it doesn’t work”, he stressed. He called on Guyanese to push the government to ensure that authority is wielded wisely so that other countries can view Guyana as a producer of “good, solid, wholesome food”.
He urged persons to demand funding for infrastructure, knowledge and technology to turn commodities into value added products.
“GLORY TO GLOOM”
Meanwhile, President of the Central Corentyne Chambers of Commerce said that many might consider Berbice as moving from glory to gloom from the closure of several sugar estates to the decline in sales.
“The ripple effect is far and wide. The fishing industry continues to be at high risk with many acts of piracy. Fishermen are scared to go out at sea, no market for our livestock farmers and the livestock industry is on the decline, retail business, market vending and other sectors are seeing a decline in sales.
This he said has caused businesses to either close their doors or cut down on staffing but with the lucrative oil and gas sector just around the horizon, the opportunity is there to move from “gloom to glory”.
“We have vast farmlands and an abundance of fruit and vegetables. We have human resources, many estate workers are actively seeking jobs, many university graduates also require jobs, these are all catalysts for economic growth”, Poonai said.
Poonai stated that while agriculture is considered the backbone of the region, there has been no significant government investment to open new lands.
He mentioned the Black Bush Polder Scheme and the Skeldon Sugar Factory as being the only major investments by a government. He called for the opening of new agricultural schemes and the providing of significant acreage to young people to produce and create employment for themselves, “so that they have reason to stay in Berbice rather than to migrate”.
He also took the time to acknowledge farmers considering the daily hardships they faced.
This is the 14th Berbice Exposition and Trade Fair.
Participants include Sueria Manufacturing, Edward B. Beharry, CGX Energy Inc, Ministry of Business, DIGICEL, Comfort Sleep, GBTI, Republic Bank and Demerara Bank. The expo is being held under the theme, “Advancing Economic Progress through Professional Standards and Entrepreneurship”.
The expo will conclude today.