THERE are no foreign companies operating in Guyana-Asian or otherwise- that enjoy any advantages in terms of concessions and incentives, over any other company. Simply put, the playing field is already level and further, government is not looking to place a ban on the exportation of logs anytime soon. These were the positions articulated by none other than Head of State, Donald Ramotar yesterday, as he engaged members of the business community at the now annual Pre-Election Business Discourse Luncheon, organised by the Guyana Manufacturers Association (GMSA) and venued at the Marriott Hotel.

ASIANS
Managing Director of Bulkan Timber Works, Howard Bulkan, during a question and answer segment of the proceedings, suggested to President Ramotar that more needs to be done to make the playing field more level and pointed to unfair incentives and concessions being granted to Asian companies operating locally.
Bulkan said too that when the late Dr Cheddi Jagan assumed Office in 1992, he had lamented the continued export of primary products, such as logs, but “we are in 2015 and I have to lament, the same thing continues.”
In fact,Bulkan told the President, “The Asians are here in a big way and they are controlling the industry, just logs, logs and more logs, no in-country processing, no transfer of skills.”
According to Bulkan, the Asians were simply logging and exporting Guyana’s prime species and as such, he wanted to know what the position would be, for a re-elected Ramotar Government.
With respect to fiscal concessions, Bulkan suggested, “here again the Asians get everything…We in the GMA have always advocated a level playing field , the playing field is not level at the moment.”
Bulkan further alleged, “these [Asian] companies can bring in hundreds of trucks, all sorts of things, we don’t get those concessions.”
As a result Bulkan used the forum to enquire as to whether a re-elected PPP/C Administration would level the playing field and asked, “Can we get the same sort of fiscal incentives that the Asians who are here that just come for our logs?”
ILL-INFORMED
But President Ramotar believes Bulkan’s views to be ill-informed and sought to set the record straight.
According to the President, cheaper energy, as can be provided with the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric project but was blocked by the political opposition, would have made value- added products more feasible for export.
“We have committed ourselves to preserving our forests,” Ramotar also reminded his audience, but pointed out too that with some 99 per cent of Guyana forests preserved, the nation will earn money from it.
The remaining forests he said, are still under harvested.
President Ramotar told the gathering of business magnates that Guyana does not have all of the processing facilities for wood and this is compounded by the fact that some of the markets currently have a ban on imports of finished products.
As a result, he said, the export of logs become important for the thousands of Guyanese across Regions, 6, 10, 3 and others that depend on it for their livelihoods, “so banning the export of logs at this time I believe, will not be the best thing.”
To do so would create a lot of hardships and suffering for a lot of people involved in the sector, according to Ramotar.
CONCESSIONS
On the matter of fiscal concessions and the supposed preferential treatment to Asian companies, the President told Bulkan “I don’t agree with you.”
In fact, Ramotar told the gathering, including Bulkan, “I don’t think that the Asian companies have any more concessions than any other foreign company will have in our society.”
The President said, “I have been speaking to our finance people all the time to ensure that there is a level playing field according to the level of investment that we have within our society.”
He told Bulkan, “Such a broad statement that they [Asians] enjoy more concessions than other people making the same kind of investment, I do not accept.”
Bulkan persisted however and in a follow- up round of questions, told president Ramotar, “I have to disagree with you Mr President,” and repeated his allegation that the Asian companies “get more concessions than us.”
President Donald Ramotar however made it pellucid: “As far as I am aware, as far as the policy of the government is concerned, that no foreign company should have any advantage over another investing in our society, that is our policy, this is where we stand on this matter and I have no information that any foreign company gets more benefits than another one.”
In recent months, Chinese logging company Bai Shan Lin had come in for increased criticisms over its concessions granted among other bones of contention by sections of the society.