–GMSA President says

WITH transformations taking place in just about every sector all across Guyana, the overlapping benefits to be derived from such a development are numerous.

This is according to President of the Guyana Manufacturing Services Association (GMSA) Mr. Rafeek Khan, who made the foregoing observation recently during the GMSA’s mid-year business dinner, where he not only drew reference to the significant advancements taking place in a number of sectors here, but also suggested that it is high time that Guyana transitions from being a primary producer and focus more on becoming involved in secondary and tertiary manufacturing.

Noting further that it is in the latter two areas of business that value-added opportunities reside the most, Khan said that given current trends, every sector within the country now stands a chance to grow at a significant rate.

And, in light of this new trajectory upon which Guyana has embarked, Khan said there is yet hope that manufacturers here will see a significant reduction in the cost of doing business over the next two years, and that the upshot of this will be a heightening of competitiveness among themselves.

Using recent developments in the forestry sector, such as the 25 % increase in production despite the many challenges it faces, to bolster his argument, Khan said that at the same time that was happening, exports in the sector also increased significantly, by as much as 30 per cent.

He, however, noted that while this type of expansion and growth is being seen across the board, businesses should also take time to reflect on the challenges that had to be overcome to achieve such growth.

Noting that the agro-processing sector in particular will play a major role in the continued growth of the country, what with President Dr. Irfaan Ali seizing every opportunity to promote bilateral trade between Guyana and countries in the Caribbean as well as food security apart from oil and gas, Khan said: “So, there are overlapping benefits that we’re going to find, as we’re seeing the development with regards to agriculture and forestry, housing and these sectors.”

Turning his attention to other matters, Khan said he recently learnt that in the quarrying sector, more licences have had to be issued as the demand for such raw materials has now grown to some 1.5 metric tonnes annually, and because of this, Guyana has been having to import some 300 metric tonnes of the stuff to satisfy the market.

In the mining sector specifically, he further added that they anticipate that with the building of capacity and more investors coming in, significant increases in the production in this sector will also be seen.

He went on to say that some businesses have been having hindrances, as it relates to access to capital, and noted that the business community would like to see a revolving fund in place. Further, he said that with plans in place to increase manufacturing and production, the availability of land to do that must be addressed.