THE resilience of the Guyanese economy in light of overwhelming global challenges was acknowledged by the Vice-Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Clinton Urling. He was delivering remarks last Friday evening at the opening of Building Expo 2012,which comes to an end tonight at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara, under the theme “Embracing Standards – Building the Future”.
He said the first Expo in 2010 started because of the high demand from the building and construction sector, but “I think that no one then had any idea that it would have grown to the level that it has in just two short years.
“It is important for us to reflect at times like these on how resilient the Guyanese economy has become in the face of overwhelming global odds recently,” he noted recalling that last year, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 5.4 percent, and though the principal contributors to this are the mining and quarry sectors, all of the other sectors experienced positive growth.
Even manufacturing which has been sluggish for some years grew by a significant 6.8 percent, he highlighted, and  construction grew by 2.8 percent, the PSC Vice-Chairman outlined.
He said the visible evidence of the number of new homes and businesses being constructed, in every part of the country speaks even louder than official statistics, adding: “I think that no one here would doubt that our building boom is continuing even in the face of shortage and high prices of building and construction materials.”
He said the construction sector contributes enormously to the GDP, and as such, there is no doubt as to its importance to the economy and the “general prognosis is that expansion of the sector will continue apace for several years to come”, especially as the government continues with its housing drive and initiative and several large, planned infrastructural projects.
“One feature of the building and construction sector which increases its importance to the economy is its relatively high labour intensity; and expansion in the sector leads to proportionate expansion of employment in all areas,” the GCCI President stated.
However, he pointed out that they are faced with a situation in which the sector finds itself short of skilled personnel and stated: “This is a problem which must be addressed both by the government and by the private sector if the crucial expansion of the sector is to continue.
“While the successive building expos have been staged by the government, it must be remembered that it is the private sector companies which together are the ones doing the exhibitions and are exhibiting their products and services over the next couple of days,” he underscored.
“It can, indeed, be said that this exposition represents the best of the government and private sector collaboration,” the PSC Vice-Chairman stated.
He also underscored that it is the consumer who is and should be the ultimate beneficiary of such collaboration.
“The home owner and the potential home owner must be the focus of all the products and services that are on display and must be given goods and services of the highest quality,” Urling insisted.
Alluding to the expo’s theme this year, Urling said, he is pleased by the minister’s commitment to ensuring that standards of quality and building codes are adhered to.
“The Building Expo helps to educate Guyanese consumers and make them aware of the wide range of products and services which are available both locally and abroad; the consumer is also faced with numerous options and choices and will therefore demand higher quality from their suppliers,” he stated.
He said while local companies in the building and construction sector have overcome many challenges and are now are able to meet the demands of a more educated local consumer, companies must now transform themselves to be able to export their goods and services.
Urling said there are more than 100 exhibitors, including from Suriname,The United States, and China, which speaks to the popularity of the exposition.
He said most of the companies have reported increased earnings after the previous expositions and have achieved enormous business sales or leads as a result.
He congratulated the Ministry of Housing and Water and the Central Housing and Planning Authority, especially Minister Ali, for the hard work in coordinating the event, and also thanked the private sector companies for their participation in the event.