CHAIRMAN and Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), Keith Burrowes, in response to an article in the Kaieteur News dated May 1, 2014, headed “GO-Invest CEO attacks PSC”, has noted that the tone of the statements made in the interview were not to be interpreted as an attack on the Private Sector Commission (PSC).

According to the CEO, the article misrepresented the intention of the statements made in the interview with KN. Firstly, Burrowes, commenting in capacities of CEO and Chairman of GO-Invest, pointed out that his

appointment to both posts was merely a temporary one and was based on the conditionality of the non-existence of a Board of Governors for the agency.

He said it was very clear that there were a few dissenting voices from the PSC, who criticised the operations of the government agency, which has provided advice and concessions to investors looking to enter the business market in Guyana, similarly, operating as an avenue for enabling entrepreneurs from the international market to access the wealth of trade and investment opportunities available in the country.

Burrowes identified that there were, in fact, legitimate concerns in regard to the delay time of five days for the applications of prospective investors. He observed that there have been a few cases in the past where businessmen were reluctant to provide requisite documentation to ensure parity of the system.

The CEO further accorded this to some amount of frustration arising from potential investors who have bemoaned the lengthy documentation processes.

Burrowes, however, indicated that he is willing to work in a more strategic manner with the PSC as a means of improving the relationship between the two entities, and has reaffirmed his commitment by indicating that he will be meeting during the course of the week with members of the media to set forward the route of modernisation and improvement of standard of GO-Invest.

According to the GO-Invest CEO, the criticisms lodged against the operations of the agency were subjective in nature, evident by contrast, to the successfully conducted client surveys by independent consultants which reflected an astounding 90% efficiency and accuracy performance, further adding that these surveys were conducted independently from GO-Invest and reflects a transparent evaluation.

Regardless of shortcomings in resources, brought on by the disapproval in the Committee of Supply of the National Assembly during the 2014 budget debates, of some $119M for Go-Invest, the CEO stated that there is a narrow possibility of improvement since the lack of resources ultimately affects the efficiency of the agency.

The Chief Executive Officer, however, reaffirmed his commitment to the provision of quality service to the Private Sector, and urges that within a period of one year; there will be visibly increased modernisation of the operations of GO-Invest, which will see the continued provision of efficient and productive services to the business sector.

(By Derwayne Wills)