MINISTER of Business, Dominic Gaskin, has expressed discontent in the performance of GO-Invest, but optimism in the new leadership of the agency to adopt a more purposeful approach in discharge of its mandate.Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, Mr Gaskin expressed his dissatisfaction with the work done by the entity. “I think that there is a lot that GO-Invest should be doing. I think GO-Invest should be playing a lead role in investment promotion and investment-related activities in Guyana, and I don’t think that it has been doing that up to now,” the minister said.

He was of the view that the lead investment agency had been sidelined by higher authority in the past, as some investments did not go through GO-Invest.

“You cannot have one investment agency and then have most of your investments being handled outside of that agency. GO-Invest needs to do what it was designed to do; and to that extent, it must be given the authority to do so, and it must be allowed to act without political interference,” Minister Gaskin said.

In a previous interview, he had said that GO-Invest would be reformed and strong attention will be placed on fairness, transparency, good governance, and aggressive promotion of the agency, both locally and abroad.

“Transparency has been very dear to us. Over the years, we constantly lamented the lack of information available to the public. And we realise, too, that in the absence of hard data, it gives rise to speculation; and most of the time speculation is not healthy. It does not help Guyana; it does not build confidence in the system and in our institutions.

“The thinking is (that) if people have information, people can know what we are doing,” a confident Gaskin has said.

The Ministry of Business is currently looking at its five-year strategic plan, which includes GO-Invest; and, according to Gaskin, expanded capacity is one of the areas of focus for the investment agency.

A decision was made recently to not continue with Keith Burrowes as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GO-Invest, and the new Board will soon begin looking for his replacement.

“The replacement, identification of a new CEO for GO-Invest, has to come out of a process that is open, transparent and fair. So it is not simply a question of replacing Mr Burrowes by picking somebody whom we like,” Gaskin told this publication, as he noted that Go-Invest would have to be more aggressive, strategic, and fair in promoting investments in Guyana and abroad.

Established under the Public Corporations Act (1994) as a semi-autonomous body, GO-Invest used to be under the direct purview of the then Office of the President.
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.

The Government has recently appointed a new Board of Directors for GO-Invest. The Board is being chaired by Minister Gaskin, and the other members are Mr Rajendra Singh, Mr Michael Hutson, Mr Neville Totaram, Ms Patricia Bacchus, Professor Shamir Ally and Mr Basil Blackman. The Board would also include a member of the Opposition in Parliament.

Gaskin yesterday expressed confidence that the new Board will take GO-Invest forward.

By Tajeram Mohabir