…US Ambassador says private sector only raised issue of political stability
…wants quick resolution to court matters

DESPITE public statements that business was on the decline in the aftermath of the no confidence motion, new U.S Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch said that, based on her interaction with the Private Sector, Guyana’s current political situation has not affected business development in the country.

In an interview with the country’s newspapers on Monday, at the U.S Embassy, Ambassador Lynch said while there appears to be no “issue” at the moment, a swift resolution to the current political situation would be good.

An attempt by the Parliamentary Opposition last December to oust the David Granger Administration has resulted in a legal battle on whether the No-Confidence Motion was validly passed. The country’s High Court and Court of Appeal have given different judgments, with the latter ruling that the motion was not carried on the grounds that the Opposition needed 34 votes to defeat the Government and not 33 as was the case on the night of December 21. The matter is now before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the Private Sector Commission (PSC) have complained that the current situation is causing a decline in business.

No such reports
However, Ambassador Lynch, who arrived in Guyana in March, said she has not received such reports but said that, in general, the private sector needs stability and predictability. Ambassador Lynch has met with the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the American Chamber of Commerce in Guyana (AMCHAM). The U.S Ambassador said while she has not heard of a decline in business, a swift resolution to the current political situation would be best for everyone. She said, however, that the process must take its course.
“The democratic process is being followed. The democratic institutions are being used and a swift resolution would be great but I understand also that the CCJ has given a date, May 10 and we should hear more, and that’s only in a few short weeks,” Ambassador Lynch said.

Invest in Guyana
On the business front, the Ambassador said the U.S is encouraging its companies to invest in Guyana’s development. She said the production of oil and gas will create a window of opportunities, noting that with the development of the 5.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels of recoverable resource discovered to date in the Stabroek Block by U.S oil giant Exxon Mobil, other industries will be developed and new ones birthed.

“It is really tremendous. So we are very must interested in looking at increase trade and investment opportunities for the U.S and will be encouraging them to look at Guyana,” she told journalists. While the U.S is encouraging investments in Guyana, Ambassador Lynch said based on her interactions with representatives from the private sector, there is a general concern that more can be done to allow for the ease of doing business.

“Just on the surface I would say that there is some thought that Guyana can do a bit better on easing the way of doing business. So in other words, allowing business to start up quicker, faster, making the regulations a little less bureaucratic so there are more opportunities for other businesses to get up,” she explained.

Ambassador Lynch noted that while there are a number of large U.S companies operating in Guyana, major focus should also be placed on smaller businesses. “There are a lot of big companies that are here but it is the smaller companies too that you want to develop, and that’s where there is a lot of creativity and especially down the road job creation for the citizens of Guyana,” she said.

In the U.S Department of State’s Investment Climate Statements for 2018, it was noted that Guyana has made improvement in fostering Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) but there are still barriers to be removed. “Over the past decade, the GoG enacted new laws or amended existing ones to encourage FDI with mixed levels of success. Due to the state’s significant role in the domestic economy and the preference for centralized decision-making, relatively large foreign investments often receive intense political attention. The current administration has been criticized by civil society for Guyana’s challenges in attracting new FDI, even though this has been a long-term trend and leadership has signaled its intention to promote FDI through its various Embassies and Missions abroad,” a section of the Investment Climate Report stated.

In that same report, the issue of corruption within the country was raised. However, Ambassador Lynch said while the report addressed the issue of corruption, it also took stock of the Government’s approach in tackling it. “It does applaud Guyana on the positive gains that it has made and the political will to address these issues but it does say there are things to work on,” she posited.

The issues of corruption and other barriers to trade and investment, she said, are not unique to Guyana, and are actively being tackled globally. “On the governance side, corruption is one of them, on the security side it’s the existence of transnational criminal organizations and violence, on the prosperity side it might be the ease of doing business and transparency. So we look at those trade barriers holistically and we want to continue to work with the Government of Guyana to address all those,” Ambassador Lynch explained.
She said too that the citizenry must also play its part. “Citizens have a responsibility too so we also very much want to continue our work with civil society organizations , the private sector, all kinds of institutions…like we do around the world to hold the government accountable for being transparent, for being reliable, for delivering services to its citizens. So corruption I would say is just one of those we are working and we have seen progress here in Guyana,” Ambassador Lynch said. She reiterated that commercial sector is interested in an environment that is stable, predictable and allows for profit.