— Go-Invest ISO certification signals commitment to transparency,
accountability, says President Ali

THE Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest), on Tuesday, received it’s ISO 9001 certification, during a presentation ceremony at the Office of the President (OP).

The certificate was handed over by the Chief Executive Officer of Global Compliance Service Guyana Inc (GCSGI), Candelle Bostwick, to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Go-Invest, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop, in the presence of President, Dr. Irfaan Ali.

The President noted that the certification of the public sector agency is part of government’s goal to re-orient the delivery of government services.

“It demonstrates that we are committed to delivering world-class services, in a world-class environment of world-class standards, world-class guidelines, subjecting ourselves to world-class audits. It requires the organisation and everything we do at the organisation to operate at all times at a high level,” President Ali said.

In addition to representing a high standard in the level of service being offered by the agency, Dr. Ali said that the certification also represents a level of transparency and accountability to which the government holds itself and its agencies.

“For the agency to subject itself to the audits to get the certification tells you about the dynamism, openness, transparency, and our desire to build systems that follow structure, and structure that follows standards, and standards that follow guidelines. All of these are important parameters in the whole conversation about transparency,” he added.

The President congratulated Dr. Ramsaroop, his staff and others who supported the process, for seeing it through.

The ISO 9001 is an international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organisations use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements.

To get ISO 9001 certified, organisations have to build and implement a quality management system in accordance with the principles of the latest ISO 9001 standard.

An audit is then performed by a certified body or registrar to assess the performance of the organisation’s QMS against the latest ISO 9001 standard.

Go-Invest had its audit done last month by GCSGI, the local chapter of Global Compliance Service, an International ISO Certification Body and Registrar headed in Geneva Switzerland.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Bostwick shared that it was in August that Go-Invest applied for the ISO 9001 certification, and given how compliant the agency already was, it took a few weeks to conduct the audit needed for the certification.

Go-Invest is the Guyanese agency that provides investment facilitation, and export promotion services to both local and foreign investors. The organisation serves as a primary contact for investors, liaising with government agencies throughout the investment process. It also provides investors with a comprehensive summary of steps necessary to commence business operations in Guyana.

Dr. Ramsaroop told the members of the media that it was the encouragement of the government, led by President Ali, that was the driving force behind Go-Invest striving for higher quality management standards.

“From the time Dr. Ali took leadership of the country, he challenged all government agencies to meet a higher level of standard to ensure that we have accountability, transparency, measurable results,” Dr. Ramsaroop said.

He further noted: “So, Go-Invest decided to embark on the standards to meet that expectation and in doing so we followed the ISO guidelines over the last year and ensured that our documentation, quality management, our customer service, our intervention with investors, local and foreign are equal and by doing that we continue to meet the standard and we asked the audit agency to help.”