– says outgoing Managing Director of Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited
“I think I’m leaving at a time when Guyanese should be very excited about their future, there’s going to be lots of development…there’s going to be lots of positive things taking place here…right now Guyana is poised  for major development and expansion.”
This is the firm conviction of Trinidad national and former Managing Director of Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited, Mr Edwin Gooding, yesterday, as he prepared to leave tomorrow after giving 35 years of sterling service to the Republic Bank Group.
Gooding, who proceeded into retirement on April 8 last, after taking up an appointment here on June 5, 2007, had held the posts of Assistant Group Manager, Marketing, at Republic Bank Limited, Trinidad and Tobago, and acted as Managing Director of Barbados National Bank Inc. and  Republic Bank (Grenada) Limited.
Gooding during his tenure here, is credited with seeing Republic Bank, regarded as the largest financial institution operating in Guyana, attain a number of significant achievements, foremost among them being the first and only institution within the Republic Group to launch an international debit card which allows locals to access their accounts overseas.
This product is yet to be launched in Trinidad, Barbados and Grenada, where Republic Group also has a presence.
Other achievements, he recalled, during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, include being adjudged by an independent team of market researchers as the top performing bank in customer service in 2009; and the opening of two new branches, a state-of-the art facility on Camp Street, in the city, and a branch at Anna Regina, in Essequibo.
And, in terms of physical expansion, Gooding disclosed that the financial institution is presently constructing a new branch at Diamond, on the East Bank of Demerara, to serve customers who now reside in several new housing developments as well as attract new customers.
Republic Bank is also considering setting up an operation in Lethem, which the out-going Managing Director disclosed was prompted by the opening of the Takutu Bridge.
According to him, the management team of Republic Bank (Guyana) has been viewing Lethem and its potential seriously, adding, “Right now it is warming up, but the potential for Lethem is great; and as a bank we think we want to be in Lethem to provide our services to that community.”
Commenting on the bank’s focus on Customer Care and Service, and being judged as tops in this area, Gooding said, “This is the pinnacle of any bank, if its customers are saying that you are the best among your competitors in the market, that is a significant achievement.”
He pointed out that Republic Bank (Guyana) was in 2006 ranked Number I  in the local industry, but dropped in its ranking two years in succession, 2007 and 2008, to a position of  Number 2.
He said in a bid to returning to its initial ranking, the bank concentrated and refocused on its customers, who are considered by them as the “most important factor in our business.”
“If we don’t have happy customers then we can’t have profitable business,” he added.
Gooding said too, under his watch, the banking institution, in late 2009, took a page out of what has been done at its sister bank in Trinidad and established a unit geared to assist small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The facility allows the SME through the internet to access tools to better understand how to enhance their markets. Among the learn- by- yourself services which can be accessed are accounting, how to manage Human Resources situations, how to deal with exports and a whole range of information that small business personnel can, in their own time and pace, learn and develop and become more proficient in managing businesses, so that their businesses would be more efficient, Gooding explained.
“As a bank, not only in Guyana, but in the Region, we see that small and medium enterprises will be the bedrock of business and future development, and employment generation; and we think Guyana is one of the few countries, if not the only one in the Caribbean, that has been putting systems in place to support small businesses,” he added.
The bank follows up with having officers going after SME business, visiting their premises, seeing how the Bank can assist them in providing finances and providing advice so that they can become large customers of the bank of tomorrow.
Gooding, who from a professional and personal standpoint says he sees lots of development going on in Guyana, described his tenure as “very challenging and also very rewarding.”
Reminiscing, he said, “I came to Guyana at a point where I viewed Guyana in a different light. But right now Guyana is poised  for major development and expansion. I saw that when I came here, the signs of the development, I saw a lot of things taking place with infrastructure . I saw  lots of achievements for Guyana as a country, a lot of achievement by Guyana’s president ( Bharrat Jagdeo) in his personal capacity; and I think Guyana has now moved from a country where people who perhaps didn’t know where Guyana was , to a point where Guyana is now on the map, people know about Guyana and its LCDS thrust.
“As a Trinidadian national, I am very proud that Guyana, as a small county, has taken the forefront among major countries on the whole issue of global warming and how it can counteract global warming,  and how the country is being prepared for development and expansion,” he said.
He referred to the generation of energy by way of hydro-power, the road to Lethem, the deep-water harbour, and all these things about global warming and how Guyana can configure in a global scenario.
And so Gooding remarked, “I think I’m leaving at a time when Guyanese should be very excited about their future; there’s going to be lots of development.
Saying that while he did not want to sound like a prophet, he is of the opinion that “there’s going to be lots of positive things taking place here.”
“I see that within the next five years, Republic Bank will be playing a major role in terms of support of this country’s development. There will be more and new investment opportunities in the country resulting in new investment opportunities for the banking institution,” he said.
As for his future plans, now that he has retired, Gooding, who is married and a father of three, said “It is a matter of considering what, where, and how I can make my contribution and then I will make my decision. At this point, it is just to sit back and look over the years of achievement, what I’ve done, and spend some time with the family and just enjoy life generally.”