…as GMSA honours outstanding manufacturers

By Lisa Hamilton

ENERGY Director, Dr. Mark Bynoe, said that through local content, Guyana can become non-dependent on foreign companies for the success of its industries and stressed that with the development of a ‘fit-for-purpose’ local content policy, citizens will benefit from the added value that petroleum revenue brings.

He made the comments while addressing the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association Limited (GMSA) 24th Annual Awards Presentation and Dinner on Wednesday at the Pegasus Hotel. Dr. Bynoe explained that Guyana lacks some, if not all of the instruments needed to conduct deep-water drilling on its own and is therefore forced to rely on outside support from foreign countries. However, he said the provision of local content from these foreign companies is more than the handing over of money but the training, capacity building and the transfer of knowledge.

Dr. Bynoe said that through the development of a ‘fit-for-purpose’ local content policy, Guyanese can benefit from the added value that petroleum revenue brings.
He noted that already more than 70 joint ventures have been established under the Centre for Local Business Development (CLBD) while over 1,700 Guyanese are employed directly in the industry.

Meanwhile, Esso Exploration & Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) is working along with the Technical Vocational and Education Training (TVET) and Board of Industrial Training (BIT) to assist with the revision of the curriculum and to conduct third-party assessments of existing TVET laboratories. “It is the expectation that Guyana’s Local Content policy will aid in job creation for Guyanese in the petroleum sector but also through the multipliers created through banking, power generation, manufacturing, construction or telecommunications. As well as to build technological capabilities for Guyanese,” Dr. Bynoe said. “The draft local content policy seeks to ensure the highest possible rate of domestic employment, strengthen the local economy and help the Guyanese economy to become less reliant on foreign capital and expertise.”

HEALTHY GROWTH
President of the GMSA, Clinton Williams, in his remarks, noted the consistent growth of Guyana’s economy over the last four years and has recommitted that the association will work with the government to address existing challenges. Williams said that both the government and private sector must be credited for the positive growth.
He said that the improvements were made possible through development in the areas of food security, tourism, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), renewable energy, trade services and the emerging oil and gas sector.

“I want to place on record the GMSA’s recognition of the consistent, positive growth of the
country’s economy over the last four years… the past few years have provided irrefutable evidence that our country is on the cusp of a ground-breaking leap forward. Nothing should be allowed to deflect us from this course,” he said to the Pegasus Hotel gathering.

However, Williams said that challenges of the manufacturing sector such as unreliable and high electricity costs, if unaddressed, with continue to contribute to the under performance of the private sector. He reminded the gathering that the association will continue to remind policy makers of these challenges and will seek government’s assistance for alleviating the same. Even so, he welcomed the government’s planned implementation of a 30 megawatt (mw) solar farm, a 10mw farm and the imminent generation of natural gas.

At the same time, Williams said that the GMSA is cognisant of its role and remains focused on the facilitation of trade and investment, institutional strengthening, governance and occupational skills training. He also announced that the association will be taking the lead in a new initiative to revive foreign trade to address issues such as the high costs of trade transactions.

AWARDS
At the ceremony, several awards were presented. These included: Brass Aluminum and Cast Iron Foundry for the company’s attainment of ISO 9001-2015 accreditation; KSM Investments Inc. for supplying critical need in the construction sector and Sherl’s Cosmetics and Anne’s Products for significant growth of a small business.

Also awarded were Comfort Sleep for innovation and creativity in manufacturing; National Milling Company of Guyana Inc. for 50 years of service to Guyana; Mr. Raymond Ramsaroop and Robert Ross for the representation on the international level of Plantation White Sugar; GAICO Construction and General Services Inc. for pioneering local content.

Receiving the Lifetime Award was Bert Sukhai in appreciation of his commitment and support to the GMSA, while the export achievement award went to Sterling Products Limited for its significant increase of export achievement to the CARICOM Region. Also attending the ceremony was Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, and several representatives of ExxonMobil who assisted with the handing over of awards.

The GMSA is made up of over140 members with an additional 35 coming on board in the last year. It continues to attract members in the areas of agriculture, agro-processing, construction and engineering, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, fast food, textiles and other services.