–    Mnister Prashad
MINISTER of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Manniram Prashad said, last week, that Guyana is undergoing and experiencing a period of major transformation.
As such, the quality of life of Guyanese has improved tremendously, he said, while  addressing the audience at the opening of the just concluded GuyExpo Trade Fair and Exposition.
According to him, the country has witnessed an increase in investment, in production, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, forestry, tourism, an expansion in services and massive investment in infrastructure.
“We are in the middle of a housing and construction boom, having just recorded a 5.9 per cent growth in the first six months of this year,” he stated.
Prashad said, in order to facilitate this advancement and growth, the Government of Guyana has identified eight growth areas which offer potential investors – foreign and local alike – a broad spectrum of investment choices.
These range from more traditional industries, such as mining, sugar, rice and timber, to non-traditional export sectors, such as aquaculture, agro-processing, fresh fruits and vegetables, light manufacturing, value-added forest products, to services exports like tourism and Information Technology.
With regard to the last, entrepreneurs are better equipped to improve their academic and skills base, thus enabling them to become more marketable or efficient as artisans, craftsmen or service providers, Prashad added.
As to the impact of these, he said:“In general, the quality of life of Guyanese has improved tremendously, largely because of the aforementioned conditions, along with the availability of adequate health and welfare programmes.”
Additionally, small and large scale enterprises are motivated by a menu of measures available to engender public/private partnerships within the context of Guyana’s Private Sector as the acknowledged engine of economic growth.

New challenges

Despite all the current achievements, Minister Prashad emphasised that both private and public sector leaders must understand that continued progress depends on Guyana’s ability to adjust to the ever changing global economy, by responding to new challenges and taking advantage of new opportunities.
“In the interest of sustainability and consistent growth attainment, Guyana must compete in a global economy that requires us to be competitive,” he said.
Prashad explained that achieving growth through competitiveness involves not only changes in physical infrastructure but in legislative reform as well.
In order to achieve this, a number of laws were reformed and new legislation enacted under the National Competitive Strategy.
Some of those reforms included the reviewing of old Acts which affected the operations of businesses in Guyana, which reduced the time and cost required to operate efficiently and effectively, the Tourism Minister pointed out.