PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday told the private sector that it needs to get involved in educating its constituency about happenings in the global economic environment if it is to be more effective in the decisions that will affect them in the long run.
He said that much of the local discussion on major trade issues is often anecdotal, a situation which needs to change.
Addressing a business luncheon of the Association of Regional Chambers of Commerce (ARCC) at the Tower Hotel in Georgetown, he said the government would appreciate the private sector’s help in developing Information Technology (IT) in Guyana, since unilateral governmental attempts to garner funding has been met by opposition by some entities.
Conceding that Guyana needs to develop its natural resources, Mr Jagdeo said the current global environment nevertheless offers many other opportunities, especially in the area of information technology.
The theme of the lunch was `Unlocking Guyana’s potential through regional investment’.
ARCC Chairman and President of the West Berbice Chambers of Commerce, Mr Muntaz Ali, said the luncheon was part of the business umbrella body’s renewed advocacy thrust.
This, he said, was an initiative resulting from its involvement with the Capable Partners Programme (CAP) sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Ali said the activity came at a time when businessmen, many of whom have passed through the various phases of Guyana’s economic and political maturation, are “anxiously trying to arrive at a formula that can see Guyana making a quantum leap to reach a point that equates [it] economically and socially with developing countries which are recognised and respected internationally.”
Guyana’s vast and untapped natural resources hold out a promising future, and it was time that these were explored, he said.
“We at ARCC,” said Ali, “with our 10 affiliate regional chambers of commerce, feel strongly that it is now more critical than ever before for this potential to be transformed into tangible economic and social development for all, by way of meaningful programmes, driven by well instituted systems.”
He said the ARCC recognises that any plan for sectoral development in Guyana has to be in tandem with the government’s policies.
President Jagdeo noted that the government is engaged in intensive investment and infrastructural projects across the country.
He cited development works in Sophia, Greater Georgetown; the Berbice River Bridge and electricity cogeneration project in Berbice; and the imminent completion of the Takutu Bridge linking Brazil and Guyana, among many other examples.
Ali said his organisation has noted that the government has programmes consistent with its stated position that the private sector is the engine of growth.
“I refer to initiatives such as the Small Business Act, the Investment Act, and bilateral arrangements resulting in many cases with Joint Business Councils between non-traditional trading partners – at the private sector to private sector level – such as Brazil, the Dominican Republic, India and recently China.”
He pointed to several possible issues that ARCC felt need addressing, including piracy in regions One through Six; a potable water supply for Region 10; and a stable supply of electricity for Lethem in Region Nine.
He said the organisation is willing to work with the government, other private sector institutions and wider civil society to create a vision of progress for Guyana and to enable that vision. He said that in the interest of a unified private sector, ARCC and the Private Sector Commission are due to shortly sign a Memorandum of Understanding.
President Jagdeo discarded a prepared speech in favour of what he referred to as “a conversation” with the business community represented at the luncheon.
He said that he greatly favoured the advocacy thrust of the ARCC but hoped that its advocacy is from a well researched and factually secure standpoint.
“I’ve seen members of the private sector, prominent members, advocate for policies that are already in place. This means that they simply did not read up properly or did not know.”
Mr Jagdeo called on the ARCC to undertake steps that ensure that all, including rank and file members, receive the necessary information.
The President said that very often members of the private sector complain about issues such as the granting of duty free concessions, while missing the bigger picture which takes into account his government’s compliance with international fiscal policies.
The international monetary agencies themselves came in for some criticism from Mr Jagdeo regarding some of those policies.
He said the administration very often has many goals in common with agencies like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), though sometimes their approach might not fit the country’s situation. He referred to a proposal by an international financial association which required Guyana to raise taxes.
“We’re an economy which has not seen much economic growth for several years…yet they want to tighten the programme. Tightening the programme does not result in economic growth.”
Mr Jagdeo said he is willing to work with the ARCC to help educate its members on how they can work with the government in engaging international policy institutions.
Referring to the ARCC’s thrust towards utilising the country’s untapped natural resources, the President said the private sector should consider thinking outside of the box.
“Think about the countries that have made the greatest strides within the past twenty or thirty years. They are countries that have very little natural resources.” (RUEL JOHNSON)