-President Jagdeo does the honours
THE GUYANA Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), part of the Beharry Group of Companies, yesterday commissioned its new corporate headquarters, a $2.6 billion edifice on Young Street, as it forges ahead with plans for improving costumer service and becoming the leading commercial bank here.
The building will have facilities for customer teller services and other facilities, like secured handling of armoured security cash-transferring vans, the country’s first drive-through ATM, and night deposit facilities. Speaking at the launching ceremony, held in the courtyard of the sprawling piece of property in up-market Kingston, President Bharrat Jagdeo said of the investment and vision of the establishment and the Beharry Group: “We have to dream and work towards replicating that story.” He said that more and more Guyanese should follow the same path as the Beharrys, fraught though that path was with difficulties.
He said that the earlier generation remained confident in our country. “They had a vision.” And that despite the many challenges, the Group yet remained positive and confident, recognizing that in order for there to be rewards, there must be risk-taking.
The President said that for too long, risk-taking was something that was not a part of the private sector’s culture, since at one stage of Guyana’s development, the State was in control of most of the economy. But thankfully, that was all in the past, he said. “Too often we are constrained by the past…we have to change this country,” the President said, adding:
“We are lucky in this country that we have a vibrant private sector; one set of the private sector is vibrant. I made it clear that the private sector that has drive, that has vision, that wants to change this country, is the private sector that we should work with.”
Having said that, he went on to say: “First of all, I wish to congratulate the Beharry family, [and] the members of the Board and staff [of GBTI]… They have raised, consistently, standards in the banking sector in this country … and we have come to expect no less from them.”
Noting that the banking sector is critical to entrepreneurial development, President Jagdeo said in closing: “… I hope that we will see many more facilities like these,” and that he is certain that in a few years, GBTI will have outgrown the present facility, even in the face of comments that the building is too big, and that there is no need for it.
Preceding the President at the podium, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh referred to the new GBTI corporate office as the quintessence of modernity, of which all Guyanese could be proud. He also deemed it a source pride and admiration. “The building raises the bar as far as corporate infrastructure is concerned …I see the project as more than merely a modern and impressive building,” he said, adding that he viewed it as being of great significance to Guyana, in that it shows that Guyanese companies can grow from the most modest of beginnings to conglomerates, offering world-class goods and services. He said that the achievements of the  Beharry family are achievements that “we as a country can be justly proud.”
Besides noting that there are many lessons to be learnt from what the Beharry Group and  GBTI have been able to achieve, as much of it can be emulated by others, Dr. Singh said, in obvious reference to the many laws the Government has passed in Parliament to strengthen the sector, that the transformation we’re now seeing is self-evident.
Contending that the financial sector of today was a totally different animal just ten or so years ago, and that it is the one sector that can accurately gauge the health of a country’s  economy, Minister Singh said Guyanese need to be vigilant and jealously guard the gains that have been made and not treat the economic stability we’re currently enjoying lightly.
He said that with GBTI at the centre of innovation, other sectors will do well to emulate the banking sector in terms of the wave of innovations coming into being over the last decade.
He however said that to be successful, there must be a willingness to be bold and to take risks. “I have no doubt that the GBTI and the Beharry Group encountered their fair share of challenges, particularly [during] the difficult years. GBTI could have found no end of reasons [for the project] not to be done,” he said, adding: “I am pleased to see the company demonstrating this kind of boldness.”
Chairman of the GBTI Board of Directors, Mr. Robin Stoby (Senior Counsel) said that over the past few years, the Board has been moving forward with plans to make GBTI the premier financial institution.
He said that the aim is to both maintain leadership in the local financial sector while meeting the needs of the customers in the delivery of financial services. “This corporate office comes at an appropriate time,” he said, adding that it is also an achievement of part of the strategic plan that the Board has laid out for turning the bank into a strong financial player.
He said that since joining the government’s low-income housing programme, the Bank has lent in the neighbourhood of $500 million for housing. He said, too, that the Bank has made available the sum of $500 million for the Women of Worth programme, a collaborative effort between the bank and the Government of Guyana to provide micro loans to single parent women so that they could star their own businesses. It is envisioned that the programme will help some 2,500 women.
Stoby said the Bank continues to recognize and applaud family-owned businesses in Guyana, and noted that such businesses have a longer-term vision since it is envisaged that the business will eventually be passed on to the next generation. He said that this makes it easier for banks, since these businesses tend to have a more caring approach.
According to the Chairman of the Board, the Bank will in August launch its Internet banking service as it continues to enhance capacity with a view of being ultra-competitive.