-Tourism Minister

RECOGNISING the many hurdles that entrepreneurs face when starting up and managing a small business in Guyana, the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce will bring on stream an electronic single-window system for trade transactions.

This was last week disclosed by the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, who during the 2024 budget debates told the National Assembly that the new initiative is a part of several policies outlined in the fiscal package to support small business owners across the country.

“These various developments have not come by chance they have come because we have a vision and we are putting in the work to realise this day in and day out,” Walrond said.

She further disclosed that works on the electronic single-window for trade transactions is in its advance stages and it is projected to go live in March this year.

“The electronic single-window for trade will to a large extent automate the process for clearing items for import and export, delivering a substantial decrease in the time and expenses associated with the trade related process.”

A sum of $600 million has been budgeted for this initiative.

Meanwhile, a new legislation will be tabled to the National Assembly to assist small business owners to capitalise on their assets.

“This year we intend to bring to the house the security interest and immoveable, property bill, one of the principle objectives of this bill is to enable small business owners to capitalise movable property so as to gain access to finance.”

“For example, a small business owner can move more readily to use let’s say an excavator or other piece of machinery at collateral for a loan,” she said.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali in January 2021 announced that the central government will be undertaking modernisation of the institutional and legislative infrastructure to establish a single-window approval system for building permits and construction permits, a project which has been already commenced by the Central Housing & Planning Authority and the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce.

In addition to focusing on enhancing businesses’ ability to guarantee that competitive goods and services are produced locally and to support a contemporary, practical business environment, the ministry is exploring methods to promote entrepreneurship and simplify doing business in Guyana.

A sum of $450 million has been set aside in Budget 2024 for the replenishment of the Small Business Development Fund and $331 million to the Small Business Bureau for initiatives that will contribute to small and micro business development and the promotion of entrepreneurship.

In addition to building business incubators, the government is offering comprehensive coaching, mentoring, and training programs at every stage of the company value chain. In order to increase capacity and boost business competitiveness, over 3,500 small business owners benefitted from training in 2023 in subjects like small business management, financial management and record keeping, business plan writing, WhatsApp for Business, and Guyanese business toolkit, among others. In order to stimulate entrepreneurship in various regions, 2,800 more business owners will be trained in specialised business development programmes in five important sectors by 2024: apiculture, farming, livestock husbandry, poultry rearing, and microenterprise.