SENIOR Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh along with Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat on Friday met with the new President of the Forest Products Association (FPA) Ganesh Singh and the association’s Project Coordinator Mona Bynoe.

The meeting was held at the Ministry of Finance, and focused on how the government can further assist in the development and expansion of the forestry sector.
The engagement comes on the heels of the government’s recent signing of a $900 million Forestry Revolving Fund Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Demerara Bank Limited.
Management Consultant of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) James Singh was also in attendance.

According a press release from the Ministry of Finance, during the discussion, Dr. Singh posited that the government will collaborate and support the FPA, and called on its members to take full advantage of the opportunity of the revolving fund to boost their production.

He congratulated and welcomed the new President, and encouraged him to continue to engage with forestry sector stakeholders as part of their efforts to maximise the industry’s performance and improve the FPA’s status.

The new President had indicated that the FPA had already been making efforts to engage its membership during countrywide outreaches.
Meanwhile, Minister Bharrat highlighted the dismal state in which the former administration left the GFC, to the extent that it could not even pay salaries and meet operational costs.
The release said that the Commission’s status has since been improving through government’s efforts and support.

“The Finance Minister then urged the new President to work towards moving the FPA from its current bankruptcy position, and the dismal state it inherited, due to mismanagement at the FPA by previous leadership during the tenure of the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government. The FPA President had related that the Association was in a dismal financial position,” it added.

The meeting also served as a follow-up to the meeting hosted on Thursday at State House by President Dr. Irfaan Ali, where he had engaged the private sector and civil society in a “Discussion for 2023 and beyond”. Dr. Ali was accompanied by Prime Minister Mark Phillips, Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, and the Finance Minister. During that discussion, the FPA had raised some matters that it wished to engage the government on.

In October 2022, President Ali announced a $900 Million Revolving Fund to boost Guyana’s forestry sector. He had indicated during his announcement that Government’s intention is to increase its focus on small, medium and community loggers and had noted that Government and Demerara Bank Limited will collaborate to make available the $900 Million revolving fund to increase production in the forestry sector. On December 29, 2022, government signed the MoU with Demerara Bank during a simple signing ceremony at the Ministry of Finance.

The signing was witnessed by Bharrat, forestry sector stakeholders including representatives of the GFC, the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) and the FPA.

The establishment of the Fund is expected to address some of the challenges faced in the forestry sector in terms of the availability of easily accessible, low-cost financing, especially for small-scale operators, the release said.

The $900 Million Revolving Fund comprises a commitment of $300 Million by the Government of Guyana, and a further $600 Million commitment by Demerara Bank Limited to address the challenges. It is expected to be utilised by individuals or companies operating within the forestry sector for the purpose of increasing production and value-added products in the sector.