Taking the side of innovation and expanding our economic base is key to developing the success of Guyana's young people and our private sector. Previously, this column addressed some initial ideas to make the slogan, Guyana - Open for Business, a reality. Today we explore a few more ideas that could help our nation take advantage of the wealth of opportunity that is ours. On a recent trip to Washington, DC, I mentioned to several associates in the US the possibilities of technology, transport, and agricultural investments in Guyana. Their interest is real and of a scale to make a significant impact on our national economy. Our resources and the skills of all Guyanese can be made of real value to international partners, and we can start here to create a climate for investment and enterprises that make strong local partners.
How do we go about revitalizing our business climate?
Here are a few more ideas to consider:
Encourage private sector road building: allow construction of toll roads, auction licences for services plazas operators (roadway services). Guyana's future as a transportation hub for materials brought by road from the interior is going to demand better roads and better services along those roads. Better roads and the need for massive additions to our national road network is not news, but innovative ways to finance and attract public/private partnerships are needed to break out of the cycle of international debt dependency.
Services plazas are a lot like casinos too, a ready source of public sector revenue. They are also vital resources for both commercial and tourist traffic along the roadways of a future Guyana. Perhaps instead of heavily subsidized debt, a private organization with guaranteed services plaza licenses could work to increase the scale of our limited national road network.
Derelict Property Schemes: for properties that are not maintained, have unpaid taxes, or are unoccupied, an auction scheme should be initiated to encourage private property maintenance and development.
One of the most depressing signs of our current poverty is the large number of derelict properties around the country, particularly in Georgetown. Unoccupied, derelict properties must be dealt with. There is a massive increase in the potential for crime and continued social decay when respect for property and its maintenance is so low. Aggressive action is needed by the public sector and civil society to demand that at least Georgetown clean up its act. Little things like trash, broken windows or lack of paint matter!
The public sector and civil society need to come together to clean up our act, one neighborhood and one street at a time to build the positive environment that encourages business and in turn creates prosperity. Adopt-a-street programmes, neighbourhood-watch programmes and severe fines for littering/graffiti can make a huge difference. It is a global adage that all politics are local. It is also true that starting with paying attention to the little things is fundamental to a positive business and civil society.
Power Plant Incentives: 'incentivise' industrial power users to return excess power to the national grid. Guyana's power problem is a major hindrance to economic development. It is indicative of the scale of the problem that most of the nation's major businesses are building their own power plants. It is also a potential for innovation. For all those businesses that have built power plants, let's allow the return of any excess power generated to the national grid.
In this way, the grid is expanded and private power is consolidated to serve the broader good. Tax incentives could be applied to allow businesses to benefit from their investment beyond the resale of excess power to the state. We must think beyond the roles and rules of statist thinking, to innovate and experiment for the future.
A great work on public/private partnerships and using entrepreneurial thinking to change nations is Osborne & Gaebler's truly groundbreaking Reinventing Government (1992). A key tenet of this work was that societies solve problems by leveraging the marketplace, rather than simply creating public programmes. Guyana's power conundrum is a problem desperately in need of innovative thinking.
Educational/Industry partnerships: provide incentives for young graduates to experience internships funded by public/private sources to allow our young people to gain exposure to industry and develop skills that will be of real value to the commercial customer. Developing a business-focused graduate-level work force will expand the numbers of possible key personnel for international partners.
Providing incentives for local and international companies to hire/develop young graduates will build commitment to the national economy and bridge the employment/experience gap that hurts both our national talent pool and forces many of our youth to seek experience elsewhere. Another key element of such a proposal is that skills that are developed are skills that are needed by the marketplace.
The next column will explore the new trend in US Companies Outsourcing - Back Office Processing Outsourcing and Call Centres.