Business development in any country is critical to the advancement of the economy and ultimately the development of the people; hence, placing emphasis on this sector is a top priority of this Government.

Government has its work cut out for it, since it inherited a system rife with corruption and red tape, which lacked mechanisms to allow for robust business development. The Ministry of Business is working steadily to ensure the development of an enabling environment for investment and entrepreneurship.

Diaspora involvement
President David Granger during his visit to London, United Kingdom in April, 2017 said that the Diaspora can play a role in the transformation of the country’s economy and expressed confidence that with the Constitutional and institutional integrity that the Government of Guyana is establishing, the country will continue to attract the attention of the Western World.

He noted that “Oil and Gas hold prospects, no doubt people would want to capitalise on that bonanza, it is a huge find…but in the meantime we have to ensure that our economy is transformed in a way that can guarantee sustainable livelihood for us and make Guyana proud…make Guyana great again.” The Guyanese economy, President Granger said cannot remain mired in the past, calling on members of the Diaspora to contribute to the development of Guyana by sharing their knowledge of innovative production techniques that can be used to develop the manufacturing industry.

In a recent follow up visit to London, Minister of Business, Mr. Dominic Gaskin, delivering remarks at an event in celebration of Guyana’s 51st Independence Anniversary at the High Commission of Guyana in London, acknowledged that Guyanese who live in the United Kingdom and elsewhere have a lot to offer Guyana. He disclosed that the Government is in the process of developing a Diaspora Engagement Strategy that will ensure communication is maintained and that members of the Diaspora are given the opportunity to contribute to the country’s development. “There is a tremendous amount of talent, experience, resources that reside outside of Guyana that is interested with Guyana…we are constantly reminded that there is this group of Guyanese, that certainly feels this strong connection to Guyana and as a Government we feel that we harness what is there and that we find a way, some mechanism to allow the Guyanese Diaspora to make a contribution to Guyana’s development,” the Business Minister said.

Having succeeded at democratically removing a Government that had been in office for over

two decades, Guyanese at home and abroad had very high expectations of the Coalition Administration and this, Minister Gaskin said pose several challenges. “There are some challenges in dealing with the Diaspora; it is such a large group…it is not a community that is organized in a way that allows anyone to easily identify who are the representatives, who is it that speaks for the Diaspora, “he said. Focusing on the challenges the Government has inherited such as poverty, poor health care and education, inequality and lack of certain public services, the Business Minister assured that these are not insurmountable and can be fixed with all hands on deck.

He told the London Diaspora “we have a chance to change this now and to transform our country into one that is ready to do business with the rest of the world, including the Diaspora. It is important to understand that Guyana has a free market economy where wealth is generated by private enterprise and not the Government, the role of the Government is to facilitate and to regulate trade and investment.”
Crime, while it is still a problem, the Business Minister said it is no worse than it was a few years ago, however he pointed to the numerous arrests that have and are still being made by the Guyana Police Force. He said that statistics have shown that crime in Guyana is on a downward trajectory.

Inspite of these and other challenges, the economy continues to grow, recording 3.3 percent growth for 2016. The Business Minister described this as “impressive” when compared to other countries in the region. The economic growth was attributed to the strong performance of the gold mining sector. “Both rice and sugar production were down by 20 percent, bauxite earnings reduced by about 10 percent, timber earnings reduced by about 6 percent, that’s not particularly good news, we can’t dress it up, some of our sectors are not performing,” the Minister disclosed.

Value-added production
President Granger, while in London pointed out that Guyana’s economy over the past 350 years has been dependent on a few commodities and highlighted the importance of moving towards manufacturing. For too long, the President said, Guyana has been largely dependent on primary products. He posited that “unless we become a manufacturing country, unless we move our economy forward, we’ll always remain poor and we have to work together …we can’t continue to rely on the six sisters…we cannot have our economy held to ransom by international commodity markets, we have to find a way to turn our natural wealth into sustainable growth.”

There is a lot of work to be done, the Head of State noted but with the “new mood” of democracy and confidence from the country’s regional colleagues, along with collaborative efforts by all stakeholders and the Government of Guyana, greater investment would be attracted. Generating energy from hydropower, solar power, wind power and bio-mass is just another way of the country adding value to its products and generating wealth, the President explained. “There are a hundred sites in Guyana which are capable of generating hydroelectricity, the Rupununi Savannahs, sometimes you have an average of 12 hours of sunlight per day to generate solar polar, the wind along the coastland, 460km of coastland …we can do it if we apply innovative techniques,” he said.

Echoing similar sentiments as the Minister of Business, Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), Mr. Owen Verwey said that Guyana is one of the most under-discovered markets for investments and is known as a commodity producer for many years with limited value-added production. However, this is a major area for investment potential, particularly in agriculture since the primary products are already available in Guyana, with room for further growth as the country possesses vast lands for the production of a variety of crops. He said that “beyond Agriculture we have natural resources, again the Forestry Sector, I am happy that we are moving beyond logs into the value-added timber products, we have tremendous potential which is there to be realised in doing that.”

Similarly, in the gold industry, Mr. Verwey said Guyana has produced and exported the raw gold for many years but much of it, when exported is used for the production of jewelry which is sold for four times or more the cost of the actual gold that is exported. He sees this as an opportunity for investors to move up the value chain by producing and exporting gold jewelry and other ornaments that can be sold on the international market at great costs. “Guyana is one of those few locations where the opportunities exist but it is for the investors to identify some of them; if you are in specific fields you can identify some of those activities that are there. As you know, for Guyana an investor can bring an unlimited amount of money into Guyana we have no foreign exchange controls for monies coming in or going out, the only requirements you would find are those regulatory obligations that you would find in any economy to move large amounts of money in and out,” Mr. Verwey noted.

Ease of doing business
In keeping with the Government’s vision of creating an enabling environment for business, Minister Gaskin said that throughout 2017 the Ministry of Business will provide support and facilitate the execution of critical reforms in areas identified in various reports and assessments of Guyana. To significantly improve the ease of doing business in Guyana as well as to improve Guyana’s ranking in the ‘Doing Business Index’, Mr. Gaskin said the expectation is that these reforms will last well into 2018 and will thereafter be constantly reviewed to maintain the gains that Guyana will have to achieve.

The Single Window processing system which will automate the processes of a number of government agencies involved in trade facilitation and make them more efficient and less prone to interference, is one area of intervention that is expected to transform trade transactions in Guyana. This would be followed by the deployment of the Guyana Revenue Authority’s Automated System for Customs Data System with which it will have to be integrated. Minister Gaskin said that his Ministry has sought the assistance of the World Bank and is working on an action plan that will improve the ease of doing business in Guyana.

He said that “we are on the cusp of a major economic transformation which is expected to provide opportunities for the socio-economic advancement of our people, this is not a fairytale it is what has to happen if we are serious about the development of our country…we are equally serious about ensuring that what we as Guyanese who live here today would have inherited, is passed down to future generations.”

Meanwhile, the GO-Invest CEO said that the process to set up a business in Guyana is relatively simple and does not stray far from what is done in any other jurisdiction. He said that once procedure is followed doing business here is hassle free. Key changes have been made to the application process and the confidentiality arrangement for documents submitted to GO-Invest to promote trust among the investors. The CEO said the time taken to process documentation has also been improved.

Detailed information on the process of starting a business in Guyana for both local and external agencies is found on GO-Invest’s website, www.goinvest.gov.gy. The registration form is available in PDF format on the site along with the list of requirements. According to Mr. Verwey, “we interface with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Guyana Revenue Authority, even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in some cases and the Department of Immigration to assist some of those with temporary work visas for entry and exit in and out of Guyana.” In addition, GO-Invest has sought to ensure a level playing field for all investors by implementing a self-compliance form for those who have received incentives from the company.

Entrepreneurship
In addition to creating the enabling environment for investments and large scale businesses, the Ministry of Business also collaborates with the Small Business Bureau (SBB) and the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (NEW GMC) in facilitating workshops for small businesses and entrepreneurs (including farmers), which provide information on how they can improve in the areas of agro-processing and also works along with the Ministry of Agriculture to aid in the development of the local agro-processing sector. The Government of Guyana has pushed entrepreneurship as the key toward generating wealth and ensuring that people are able to provide an income for themselves using skills and resources that are available around them.

Government’s push towards entrepreneurship can be seen in the establishment of initiatives such as the Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) Initiative; the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) Programme; and the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN). These programmes, since their establishment, have sought to equip young people with the requisite skills, knowledge and finance needed to become entrepreneurs.

Coordinator of the Hinterland and Youth Service (HEYS) Programme, Mr. Murray Greenidge providing an update on the programme said that it has made a tremendous impact on the lives of just under two thousand youths in 112 communities in several regions. The first phase of this programme was brought to an end this year and according to Mr. Greenidge quite a number of young people have been expressing gratitude for being involved in this programme, with many starting their own businesses. Zoning in on regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10, the Project Coordinator said some 267 youths out of 306 have started their own businesses in the year that they have been a part of the HEYS project.

He disclosed that “Regions 7, 8 and 9 young people have started businesses…groups have formed small coops, that’s the HEYS class and they have gone into pig rearing, they have gone into poultry production, they have gone into vegetable production and that is being channeled into school feeding programmes in those communities.”
Entrepreneurs often embark on business ventures by necessity. Every barbershop, ‘sweety’ stand, food shop and other similar small businesses where proprietors have chosen to operate as sole traders marks a small or micro business that has the potential to grow into a thriving entity. Mr. Greenidge said that for many of them, there is now a sense of excitement because the HEYS programme legitimises their operations and gives them the chance to see it as something that can provide a sustainable livelihood for them and their families.

“We have got internet now being started, coming out of HEYS, we have got individuals providing other services for the distribution of fuel, we’ve got cattle rearing, we’ve got small ruminants production, we’ve got eco-tourism programmes …Region Two, Akawini those areas are becoming popular now with the eco-tourism drive coming out of the HEYS programme,” Mr. Greenidge pointed out. Some two thousand youths in 100 new communities would be targeted in the second cohort, which is expected to commence in just less than four weeks.

The development of an economically sustainable country has been the focus of this Administration and it has set out to create an enabling environment for investors and small and large business owners. Through the implementation of several projects the Government of Guyana continues to promote entrepreneurship, which would aid in the creation of employment and to a larger extent, bolster the economy.