“WE WILL BE tarnished to the extent that people (from the Americas Competiveness Forum (ACF)) will not want to talk to us, much less invest”, President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association Limited (GMSA), Mr. Clinton Williams, disclosed to this newspaper in an invited comment.The Eighth Americas Competitiveness Forum is scheduled to be held in Trinidad and Tobago in October 2014, and Guyana is set to participate in deliberations of the business sector in that meeting. Williams is of the view that Guyana’s representation at that forum would more likely suffer from interventions taken by the rest of the world to deem Guyana a risk for money laundering and the financing of terrorism, as recommended by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).

As regards market opportunities, the GMSA President noted that what often persists in small nations like Guyana and those within the rest of the Caribbean is an inability to garner funds for investment opportunities. He said that for such small nations, investment capital is difficult to come by, and no responsible investor would invest in an environment which does not adhere to international regulation.

The GMSA President said Guyana’s Private Sector has been encouraged to attend the VIII Americas Competitiveness Forum, which provides ample opportunities for exchange of information, expertise, information on new inventions, and exchange in the sector of manufacturing services.

Williams said there would likewise be exchanges of information on energy and financing opportunities for energy ventures. He added that the forum presents possibilities for partnerships with other countries, including public/ private partnerships (PPPs) and match-making of investors and project innovators in the sub-region of the Americas, which includes Latin-America and the Caribbean.

During the GSMA business luncheon, which occurred on the same day (Thursday) when the CFATF announced its decision in regard to Guyana, the Minister of Planning and Sustainable Development of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie, invited the GMSA to attend the VIII ACF to be held in the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Minister Tewarie, who also serves as the pro tempore President of the Inter-American Competitiveness Network (RIAC), was visiting Guyana for the 44th Annual Meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank’s Board of Governors.

Williams noted that the position of the sector has been compromised by the decision of the CFTAF, which further results in the erosion of Guyana’s thrust towards becoming a competitive nation in the Caribbean and the rest of the World.

He has called on the powers that be to ensure that the legislation is implemented in order to assure that the nation, and by extension the business sector, is allowed to progress.

(By Derwayne Wills)