INTENT on building on successes achieved in 2014, Go Invest, Guyana’s premier investment agency, will be establishing a Research and Development department to further strengthen its work, as the agency moves to forge closer relations with the private sector and to more aggressively promote investment opportunities in Guyana abroad.

Go-Invest Chief Executive Officer Mr Keith Burrowes told the Chronicle that the Research and Development department will act both as an intelligence unit and an advisory arm of the agency.
The primary task of the department will be to collect information from the various government ministries and agencies, analyse project proposals, examine market trends in the region and further afield, and provide up-to-date information to potential investors.

For example, an investor wanting to open an ethanol operation here will benefit from information on the potential benefits of opening such an establishment.

From the information gathered, the department will prepare reports on investment opportunities in Guyana, and make same readily available to local and overseas entrepreneurs.

CLOSE COLLABORATION
The department will see Go-Invest working closely with the different government agencies, and experts in these agencies would be called on to participate in interviewing investors.

Burrowes said that, over the years, persons have been visiting Go-Invest for services the agency does not provide. Now, instead of turning those persons away, Go-Invest will keep a register of them, call the relevant agency where they can be assisted, and provide them letters to take to those organisations. This, Burrowes said, will be done to ensure persons are not pushed around.

The investment agency is hoping to implement a mechanism by which it would have monthly meetings with key government agencies and the private sector, to discuss issues affecting investors.

Go-Invest has not been without challenges. Many local entrepreneurs believe they cannot benefit from the agency, and the agency is channeling a significant amount of energy to dispel this perception, Burrowes said.

OUTREACH
To promote its work locally, more particularly among the youths of the population, Go-Invest will be reaching out to students of the University of Guyana and students leaving secondary school. Those outreaches, the Go-Invest CEO said, are to stimulate students’ interest in business, and to inform them of areas of investment available and concessions to be had.

Similar sessions will be held with small and micro-enterprises. Go-Invest is also currently in the process of reviewing investment concessions being offered to promote and encourage investment in Guyana. This will see the country’s principal investment agency working closely with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

Naturally, when a concession is granted, it reduces the revenue accruable by GRA. Go-Invest intends to implement a tool-devised collaboration with the Ministry of Finance to recoup, within a reasonable time, sums that would have been lost through concessions.

According to Burrowes, Go-Invest is also looking to implement a system of credit rating for big companies wanting to invest locally.

The agency, he said, will be insisting that companies wanting to invest locally provide audited statements covering the last two years of their operations. Greater attention would also be paid to the viability of projects in which they want to invest.

While some would say this would cause unnecessary delays, Burrowes said it is a vital function of Go-Invest, and that is what taxpayers pay them to do – to, among other things, scrutinise projects to ensure their viability and soundness.

This necessary work, he said, will not cause any delay, but will be executed with efficiency.

NOT AT FAULT
Burrowes said that, with the exception of March, Go-Invest is not to be blamed for delays. He pointed out that, on many occasions, critical information had not been furnished to the agency on time.

Investors will now be required to sign a letter indicating when they would provide all necessary information to Go-Invest, following their formal meeting with officials there. As part of a promotional drive, the investment agency is working to develop a website which, apart from English, would be available in Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and French. A standard application is being developed so that investors can express their interest online.

Staffers of Go-Invest are also being trained in these languages so as to ensure that the agency’s operation is not affected by language barrier.

DOWNSTREAM PROJECTS
Burrowes has said that, given the high hopes of Guyana striking oil in commercial quantity, Go-Invest is attuning itself to focus on downstream projects. Only last week, ExxonMobil Corporation announced a significant oil discovery on the Stabroek Block, located approximately 120 miles offshore Guyana. The prospect of finding oil in commercial quantity remains high, and Guyana will be hoping to hit the jackpot. If it does, through prudent management, the ‘black gold’ would significantly transform the economy and the lives of Guyanese.

The investment agency is also looking to promote Guyana as a hub for back-office services. Through this venture, large companies establishing operations here can contract out the management of their finances to local audit firms.

This, he said, is an area in which Guyana has a lot of scope. He also pointed out that other areas are being examined, but he declined to elaborate.

The year 2014 was a bright one for Guyana in terms of investments. The country was able to attract some $196 billion in investments from 234 projects, and to create some 15,868 jobs.

According to Go-Invest, of the 234 projects, 162 were piloted by local businesses, while the remainder were drawn from foreign direct investment.

AREAS OF INVESTMENTS
The areas that attracted the investments were agriculture, energy, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), light manufacturing, mining, services, tourism, and wood products.

Investments in locally proposed projects totalled some $107.5 billion, and created some 7,254 jobs, while proposed foreign direct investment amounted to $88.4 billion.

Burrowes said the successes achieved last year were due to more aggressive marketing of Guyana. He pointed out that the marketing and promotional campaigns will this year intensify both locally and overseas.

Go-Invest was established as a semi-autonomous body under the Public Corporations Act in 1994. It comes under the direct purview of the Office of the President (now renamed Ministry of the Presidency).
The CEO answers to a Board of Directors comprised of representatives of both the private and public sectors.
Go-Invest is divided into two divisions: one responsible for investment facilitation and promotion, and the other for export promotion. With these divisions, Go-Invest offers a full complement of services to local and foreign investors and exporters.

By Tajeram Mohabir