– Minister Gaskin urges private sector

MINISTER of Business Dominic Gaskin has called on the private sector to prepare itself for the abundance of opportunities that lies ahead, pointing out that Guyana has a unique problem that the rest of the world would love to have.

“Right now Guyana has a problem that most countries in the world would love to have; we have a lot of opportunities ahead and we are not yet prepared to take advantage of those opportunities and when we sawe, I mean both the government and the private sector, because we are inthis thing together; it is Guyana’s oil and we together have to find a way to maximise the benefits of that oil,” he said.

The minister, who was at the time addressing the opening of the Berbice Expo on Friday, said systems are being put in place to improve the lives of all Guyanese.
“Fortunately, I know what the government is doing and I know that we’re close to being where we need to be; despite all the gloom and doom and negativity things are taking shape… our government is putting the necessary frameworks in place, the Department of Energy; Sovereign Wealth Fund; local content policy; financial sector reform; enhanced revenue and trade facilitation systems and many other initiatives and programmes to ensure that Guyana’s oil will benefit Guyanese people and the Guyanese economy. All of this is happening within the bigger picture: the Green State Development Strategy, which will guide Guyana’s development over the next two decades.  So like I said, I am not worried about government, I am a lot more concerned about the private sector.”

The minister of business commended the Central Corentyne Chamber for hosting yet another Berbice Expo and urged that all pay attention to the expo’s theme: “Advancing economic progress through professional standards and entrepreneurship.” Gaskin said standards have been ignored for too long and has come back to haunt Guyana, since larger international companies which would be coming because of the petroleum sector require certain standards in their dealings and can be the difference as to whether Guyanese gain or lose the bulk of the benefit.

“Right now it is very important [that] we focus on implementing standards and improving the quality and consistency of what we do, because Guyana is at a junction and we can go right or we can go wrong. If we go right, we can enjoy a bigger share of the benefits of the oil that we own; and if we go wrong, we may lose out on a lot of the benefits and others will end up enjoying them for us… Our government of the day will get money and will improve education, healthcare, security, roads and many other things that will happen. There is no doubt, but businesses must also get contracts to provide the goods and
services that the oil industry needs,” he said.

Gaskin also noted that while many may believe that they cannot be part of the
industry because they are not into the oil business, everyone needs to understand that there will be a demand for service and products that are already in Guyana.

“Our entrepreneurs must start positioning themselves for what is going to happen across all sectors when Guyana starts to produce oil, because not everyone has to be an oil man or an oil woman. There will be increased demand for construction, transportation, maintenance, food; almost everything that businesses are currently doing or currently
providing and it  will be required on a larger scale and more importantly though, at a higher quality and with better consistency.”

The Berbice Expo, which concludes today, has attracted thousands of patrons and exhibitors from across Guyana and Suriname.