GEPC fised with Go-Invest
By Desiree Jodah
The Guyana Export Promotion Council (GEPC) has been dissolved and its functions would now be performed by the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) which now comes under the authority of the Office of the President. Current head of Go-Invest, Deochand Narain, will continue to head the agency. President Bharrat Jagdeo, making the announcement yesterday prior to a meeting with employees of the two agencies, explained that the merger was a commitment given by government to establish an agency to facilitate investment. He said that over the last couple of months he had emphasised the need for an agency which would be helpful to investors. Jagdeo said he had been speaking recently with members of the private sector both locally and overseas, aggressively courting investment since there was a need to create jobs in the country. He said that because creating jobs for young people was a high priority for him, a decision was taken to merge the two agencies. The Head of State announced that he decided to merge the two agencies without waiting for a detailed study on what an ideal structure would be. However, he said, he would be discussing some proposals with the staff of the two agencies at the meeting. Jagdeo disclosed the staff of the GEPC would be transferred to Go-Invest, which formerly came under the Ministry of Trade. He said that they would need to learn about the incentive regime of the country, as many of them were not aware of what it was. "Should they not discharge this mandate in a way that would be helpful to investors, they would personally answer to me," Jagdeo said. He said he did not propose to run the agency, since Chairman of the Go-Invest Board, Kellawan Lall, has been doing an excellent job. The President said he intended to build on this. However, staff who would have personal contact with investors must be responsible or, he repeated, "answer" to him.
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