Space project, NDS will spur development -- says GCCI head Guyana Chronicle November 22, 1999 PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo (centre) poses with business-persons after the dinner hosted by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) at Le Meridien. Third from right is GCCI President Mr Manniram Prashad. BEAL Aerospace project, the National Development Strategy (NDS), and the creation of a Revenue Authority, will provide economic betterment for Guyanese. This is the view of Mr Manniram Prashad, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI). The completion of the long-awaited Investment Code will also help accelerate business activities in the country, Prashad said addressing a GCCI dinner held on Thursday evening at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel, Kingston, Georgetown. Present at the dinner was President Bharrat Jagdeo fresh from his trip to Durban, South Africa where he attended the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (CHOGM). "The coming on stream of the Beal Aerospace deal will be another tremendous catalyst for economic development. As investor confidence grows, so too will economic activity," Prashad said of the foreign initiative. The GCCI executive invited all Guyanese to embrace the National Development Strategy which was crafted by a wide cross-section of citizens. Assuring that the GCCI and the Private Sector Commission (PSC) are organisations fully behind the eventual establishment of the Revenue Authority, Prashad urged politicians and labour leaders: "Do not play politics with this one. The Chamber and the Private Sector Commission and the entire business community are fully behind the establishment of the Revenue Authority." He said the Investment Code will be an impetus for the Brazil/Lethem road, and this project will stimulate a tremendous amount of economic activity for Guyana, "especially the depressed Lethem area". Prashad proposed the formation of a body to plan a significant exhibition of locally manufactured products next year, to compensate for the cancellation of GUYEXPO this year. He said the foundation for such a venture was laid by former President Janet Jagan's visits to Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname, and the country must capitalise on these important trade links. Local enterprises which are not competitive, "will fold up", Prashad warned his colleagues, noting that `value adding', diversification and efficient means of production must be mastered to maintain competitiveness and hold niche markets overseas. "The Chamber is willing to assist by way of advice, representation, providing information and whatever else it takes so that Guyanese businesses can surmount the challenges of the new millennium," he reminded them. Prashad told the formality that the Chamber has acknowledged the need to sensitise the younger generation on varying issues of business ventures. In this quest, the Chamber has launched its `School Business Sensitisation Programme'. According to him, some 20 institutions in the city and its environs have so far benefited from the expertise of the organisation through lectures and literature. The GCCI release said, "Both the Ministry of Education and the schools themselves have commended the Chamber for its efforts to transform business from merely a classroom activity to something tangible." According to the statement, the GCCI has helped several enterprises on specific issues involving the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), the Customs and Excise Department, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Incorporated and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T). A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples