-GMSA President reveals

PRESIDENT of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), Ramsay Ali, has said that a study is currently underway to ascertain the feasibility of glass manufacturing here in Guyana.

Ali made this revelation during the GMSA’s mid-year dinner recently and added that this stands among some of the things that the association is pursuing to facilitate growth in the manufacturing and services sector.

Noting that the association has two of the largest beverage companies under its membership along with several other mid-size companies and small agro-processors, he said that this could be of benefit to the sector.

Against this backdrop, the GMSA President said that they approached the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) which agreed to fund the study.

“I am pleased to say that study has started and we have a timeline of about two months before we can get the results of that study,” he said.

Ali noted that he was of the opinion that with all that is expected to take place in the energy sector in a short while, this project would make much more sense now than if they were to look at it 10 years ago because of the consumption of energy for such a facility.

Additionally, Ali stated that the organisation is interested in doing much more for expansion, especially for the agro-processors within its membership.

He went on to add that the GMSA is approaching the government to look at the possibility of establishing industrial parks to facilitate agro processing.

“I’m talking about a built-out facility that can house 20 or 30 agro-processors, equipment, warehousing and finished products,” he said.

With this, Ali noted that these agro-processors have their own machinery and equipment and just need better spaces to manage their businesses better.

He noted that there would be great possibilities for growth if some of these “industrial parks” could be located across the country.