NEWLY elected President of the Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Deodat Indar, has said that he has a vision to transform the landscape for doing business in Guyana.

Indar is known for his drive and commitment in achieving whatever he sets his mind to accomplish, the GCCI said in a release. Controller and the Company Secretary at Sterling Products Limited, a member of the Beharry Group of Companies, Indar has been working with that company for the past 12 years.

As the new leader of the business umbrella body, Indar plans to renew the strategic focus of the GCCI to propel its members down a path of greater success. He is supported by a new, vibrant 21-member council and a mix of experienced and skilful executives. Mr Nicholas Boyer as newly elected vice-president attended and graduated from the University of Virginia in 2005 with a BA in Economics and then he earned his Masters of Science in Finance and Masters in Business Administration from the University of Maryland in 2010. Mr Timothy Tucker, Junior Vice President, Managing Director of Rid-O-Pes ; Mr Kester Hudson , Managing-Director –Dapper Technologies and Mr Robin Muneshwer , a well-known businessman as Treasurer.

Apart from fulfilling the Constitution of the Chamber and among the things he hopes to achieve are a growth in membership, improved competitiveness of businesses via training and development sessions, resilient partnerships with local and central government, and a strong collaboration with the other private sector representative bodies.

With Guyana on the verge of becoming a major oil-producing nation, Indar also plans to design an approach with his team to provide fair representation for its members as well as to prepare and provide businesses with the requisite tools and skills in order to be suppliers and beneficiaries of the oil and gas industry.

Indar’s vision is to improve the advocacy by the Chamber in relation to the barriers to doing business competitively in Guyana. In fact, the GCCI is currently engaged in a fact- finding exercise to determine and update itself on the issues affecting members in order to develop solutions to the various problems in managing their businesses and sustaining jobs. Research is also being undertaken to identify the factors contributing to the foreign exchange market challenges. “We know there are problems with foreign currency and we want to find out the extent of these problems. When you have a transaction that used to take you half a day to do and is now taking three weeks, it’s a serious problem,” Indar said, noting that the assessment will seek to determine the extent of the situation.

Indar is a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA), Certified General Accountant (CGA) and Certified Internal Auditor (CIA). He has been awarded the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) of British Columbia, Canada, in June 2015. He also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Business School at the University of East London (UEL). The business executive is a known public speaker in areas of risk management, internal control, fraud, IT risk, IT governance and corporate governance. He also serves as an Advisor in Finance and Economics to some private sector organisations in Guyana and as an Investment Consultant to some local companies.