…govt to expand private enterprise to address unemployment

THE 2017 Budget debates commenced on Monday with Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin assuring the National Assembly that the issue of unemployment among the youth population will be tackled hands-on by the government come 2017.Through his Ministry, Government, he said, will pursue the expansion of private enterprise on many fronts in order to increase employment opportunities for young Guyanese. “The Small Business Bureau will be scaling up its activities in 2017 and will actively promote youth entrepreneurship as a means of channeling innovation towards economic activity,” Minister Gaskin explained, while pointing out that 100 students from educational institutions will be exposed to entrepreneurial initiatives.

These initiatives, he further explained will include practicums and competitions aimed at introducing entrepreneurship as a viable career option. Subsequently, a minimum of ten students with innovative business ideas which meet the prescribed criteria for funding will be awarded grants to implement the ventures outlined in their business proposals, he said.

Although they contribute significantly to employment and the national income, Small Businesses, Minister Gaskin said, face many constraints in their growth and development.

In order to provide more formal opportunities, incentives and capacity building within the sector – the Small Business Bureau, in collaboration with the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board will be implementing a Small Business Procurement Programme in 2017. This procurement programme will enable small businesses to access government procurement under a formal framework allowing them to compete for public contracts.

Additionally, in 2017, the Small Business Bureau, in partnership with other entities, will offer business incubation services to provide targeted support to small businesses with high-growth potential, by ensuring that they can access equipment, as well as all the support services required to propel their development. He told the House that such facilities will allow for enhanced competitiveness and provide the boost needed for early growth of small enterprises.

“The Bureau will also continue to offer training in both business management and technical skills, as well as provide access to finance through the Micro and Small Enterprise Development Programme,” the Business Minister added.

Similarly, he said, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards will continue to advance the use of standards by businesses, which will see the Bureau marketing its services in all ten administrative regions of the country. According to him, major emphasis will be placed on educating persons and entities on the benefits of standardisation with the aim of increasing its clientele for the key services it offers to businesses.

“The GNBS will be focusing on the agriculture, agro-processing, energy, mining and services sector of our economy in 2017,” he said while noting that it will require a number of visits and consultation sessions to promote the services of GNBS.

Additionally, the Bureau will begin the process of replacing its aging fleet of passenger vehicles since all but one of its vehicles are in excess of ten years old.

“Mr. Speaker, I cannot overemphasise the work of the Bureau of Standards in developing the kinds of industries that Guyana needs if it is to become a more diversified exporter. Industry standards exist for almost everything under the sun and are demanded on the international market. It therefore follows that we in Guyana need to adopt these standards if we wish to do business with the rest of the world,” the Business Minister told the House.

However, he said that without credible certification processes based on analysis and reports from accredited testing facilities, Guyanese businesses will not be able to provide the assurances required to access international supply chains for their products and services.

With the help of a US$9M loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Guyana’s national quality infrastructure will be upgraded to allow for increased testing and certification to be carried out in Guyana, he noted.

This project includes the construction of a new laboratory and upgrades to several laboratories; in addition to the development of a national export promotion strategy and a complimentary national investment promotion strategy.

“This project will place Guyana’s economy on a sustainable development pathway by supporting our value-added exporting industries in a serious way,” he emphasized.

Turning his attention to GO-Invest, the Business Minister argued that the investment office has been making invaluable contributions to Guyana’s economic growth by promoting and facilitating local and foreign investments, while also promoting the exports of local products.
“Between January to October of 2016, GO-Invest facilitated approximately 83 projects, including 16 foreign direct investments, across 8 economic sectors, namely, Agriculture, Light Manufacturing, Tourism, Forestry, Information and Communication Technology, Mining, Energy and the Services sector. The potential value of investment facilitated within this period amounted to approximately GY$114.8 Billion with approximately 6,000 jobs estimated to be created as a result,” he pointed out.

This progress will continue in 2017, Minister Gaskin assured noting that GO-Invest is currently developing its own Strategic Plan that will result in the use of policy advocacy and sector profiles to promote investments in strategic sectors.

Minister Gaskin had also used the opportunity to dismiss many of the claims made by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Member of Parliament, Irfaan Ali, who had opened the debates on Monday.

Low growth
Ali had lashed out at Government for the current state of the economy. He had contended that the “the paltry 2.6 per cent economic growth,” is the lowest recorded over the last eight years.

“It should be noted that when the PPP/C demitted office, the country was deemed one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America and the Caribbean with strong growth prospects,” the PPP MP boasted.

Ali told the House that the explanations given by Finance Minister, Winston Jordan for the sharp decline were unacceptable, as he alluded to the 2007 and 2008 when most of the world was hit by the global economic crisis, yet Guyana was able to experience unprecedented output performance in traditional sector such as mining and rice. He told the House that a once robust economy is now being paralyzed by the poor policies of the APNU-AFC government that generate considerable uncertainty and ultimately discourage investments by the private sector.

However, Minister Gaskin told the House that Ali is “disturbing himself unnecessarily” with his over amplified concerns. He said while his colleague on the opposite side of the House spoke of the growth of the economy under the PPP, he failed to highlight the whole truth. “Mr. Speaker what they did not leave was sustainable growth,” Minister Gaskin told the National Assembly.

Sadly, he said the PPP had failed to diversify the economy and was depending heavily on traditional commodities primarily rice and gold. As the Government moves to diversify the economy, he said over one billion dollar will be invested in 2017 to support green energy in Guyana, in addition to tax concessions and tax holidays. While the Opposition may criticize Government’s attempt to support the importation of hybrid vehicles, Minister Gaskin said “the green economy has to start somewhere.”