– CEO tells ICAG confab companies not taking advantage of incentives

THE Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) has facilitated some $45 billion in approved investments up to October this year—an increase of about $33 billion from what was recorded during the first half of the year.

Guyana has been on the map since oil giant, ExxonMobil announced its significant discoveries of oil offshore Guyana. Major investors have started to turn their attention to Guyana, especially in the area of light manufacturing.

“We have facilitated approximately $45 billion in approved investments and more are in the processing pipeline,” said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Go-Invest, Owen Verwey in a presentation to participants at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana (ICAG)

Guyana 2020 and beyond two-day summit at the Marriott Hotel on Thursday.
The office had facilitated $12.5 billion in investments during the first half of 2018 with that number expected to surpass $107.5 billion by December. Verwey had said that 20 investment agreements (IA) were executed from January 1 to June 30, 2018 with 434 jobs expected to be created across various sectors including services, agriculture, and energy, when the projects are fully operational.

The amount of investments continue to grow and more is in the pipeline, he said, adding that companies from Trinidad and Tobago have been enquiring about investment incentives because they want to relocate their production activities to Guyana.

Since last year, the office has been receiving calls from three-five Trinidadian companies every two days. In addition to the Trinidadians, companies from Dubai and the US have signaled their interest in opening gold refineries in Guyana, something which was only talked about at the level of government in the past.

Despite an increase in investment and interest, Verwey said many incentives are not being taken advantage of although Guyana has more incentives than many countries in the region. Governments can offer financial assistance to private businesses making investments through the use of economic incentives. Incentives can include tax abatements, tax revenue sharing, grants, infrastructure assistance, no or low-interest financing, free land, tax credits and other financial resources. “We have incentives in various categories like general, specific and even land…land has been added because nowhere else you can get an acre of land to lease for lower than US$1 and in Guyana land is being leased for as low as GUY$25,” said Verwey.

According to the CEO, there are limited restrictions on the purchase of property in Guyana, especially for foreign countries. The criteria for being eligible for those incentives include the value of investments, jobs created and uniqueness of the activity. Companies which export also have an opportunity to benefit from certain incentives such as paying 25 per cent tax on export income once the company’s export is 61 per cent of your sales. “Many of the smaller companies lose out on those opportunities but they should look into this,” said Verwey.

Unprecedented opportunities

Meanwhile, at the opening Treasurer of the ICAG, Dr. Arron Fraser in his welcome remarks, said the conference could not be at a more opportune time. “A time when Guyana is about to enter an epoch of unprecedented opportunities and uncertainty,” Dr. Fraser, who is also Chief Executive Officer of the Power Producers and Distributors Incorporated (PPDI), said. He said in many regards the conference represents the resuscitation of the ICAG’s marquee event which has been absent for a few years for various reasons. “It is our strong belief that the ICAG should be a significant player in the conversations and deliberations regarding Guyana’s economic future because of the pivot roles many of our members play in both the private and public sectors.”

“We are fortunate to be able to assemble experts from many facets of the economy including government agencies, industry regulators and the private sector. The multi-focus nature of the conference is intentional, as we posit a successful Guyana must have stellar performances from all sectors as an antecedent. As we share presentations, I encourage you to have healthy dialogue that would be thought provoking, generate tension and further reduce our bounded rationality.”

Colin Thompson, Deputy Programme Manager, Finance at the CARICOM Secretariat, and President of the ICAG, said they are extremely pleased to have placed the conference back on the calendar after a short break and look forward to continuing this as an annual event. “We believe that events like these help to promote and increase the knowledge, skills and proficiency of you our members and students and they provide opportunities for us to meet to exchange views and discuss matters of interest,” Thompson said.

He urged participants, regardless of their status in their respective organisations, to find some key takeaways from each of the sessions “that you can apply to what you do, that may influence your approach to and choices for continued education, something that you can share with colleagues who are not here…”