– PSC Executive Director
EXECUTIVE Director of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Mr. Roubinder Rambarran said, Wednesday, it is imperative that businesses move to achieve competitiveness, particularly, in light of the new era of globalisation. His exhortation was made during a presentation at the observance, by Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), of World Accreditation Day under the theme ‘Global Acceptance’.
The monitoring agency also used the occasion to introduce its National Accreditation Focal Point, at Pegasus Hotel, in Kingston, Georgetown.
Rambarran said there are some instances where local businesses are deemed to be uncompetitive for investment because of non-compliance with international standards and other cases where they were unsuccessful in efforts to expand their operations abroad by seeking to export their products, for the same reason.
He said interest had also been expressed by investors in some local businesses but, again, the non-compliance resulted in lost opportunities for investment, expansion and growth.
Rambarran conceded the fact that both local and international capital, continuously scour the corporate landscape in search of sound businesses with high growth and profit potential and many in Guyana, from an international investor’s perspective, very likely meet these criteria.
Unfortunately, non-compliance with standards vital to access lucrative international market presents a real constraint for return on capital for investors, he added.
“The real concern at the top of investor’s mind is whether local businesses are really ready to reap the returns on their investment through access to international markets,” Rambarran stated.
He said, given that achieving compliance with international standards can be a potentially lengthy process, the ultimate result is that investors move on, bypassing local businesses as potential destinations for investment.
Rambarran said, in the absence of certification, this country is excluded from lucrative global markets which are a great source of income and foreign currency generation.
He pointed out that Guyana’s domestic market is small and, if one tries to expand, the individual has to do so strictly for export purposes, being restricted in financing for research and development, which is essential in responding to current and future market trends.
Rambarran said the local market is saturated and, for one to continue business in the long term, export marketing has to be looked at.
Perspective
From a macro-economic perspective, he said lack of accreditation results in reduced rates of economic growth and development; lower rates of growth in Guyana’s foreign currency assets; a direct result in lower export revenue growth and the potential for further depreciation of local currency which give rise to excessive inflation and further undermines the purchasing power of income.
Rambarran highlighted some of the broad measures that need to be addressed to achieve competiveness, putting focus on the importance of receiving certification for businesses as a necessary means of achieving it in the new global environment.
He lamented that attaining competitiveness and standardisation does not really mean weights, measures and labels but spawns a whole range of areas, including good corporate governance, transparency, proper system of accountability, compliance with laws governing business operations and increasing efficiency across business processes.
Rambarran said investors look at how a business is managed and, corporate social responsibility and compliance with international standards, emphasising  that increased efficiency across business processes is important.
“…the way how you look at regenerating your process in your business to be very cost efficient, should be adapted as a permanent feature in its management and requires a systematic review of all of the processes of your company, with a view to minimising cost and increasing overall productivity,” he posited.
Rambarran said it may result in some processes being revamped completely or simply adopting more efficient technologies.
Reiterating that compliance with international standards is a prerequisite to gaining acceptance in the global market place, he said they aim to provide a means of assurance to government and consumers that products and services from another country have met what is desired and attests to their safety for consumption, which is an important aspect.
Rambarran said those standards cover broad product characteristics, such as quality, technical specification, safety, reliability, efficiency, interchangeability and environmental friendliness.
“Given that Guyana market is small and relatively quickly saturated, local business must recognise that they can only realise true growth potential through access to global markets by receiving international certification for business processes, products and services,” he maintained.
Rambarran assured, as well, that the PSC recognised this is an area that they need to work on and, consequently, plans to conduct a workshop, involving all the agencies responsible for standards and the Private Sector, to see how they can move the process forward.