– as GuyExpo opens
Guyana’s premier trade fair and exposition got underway last evening with the Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Ron Webster calling for support of the Amaila Falls Hydro project, saying that it will be a boon for the manufacturing sector, the wider business community and the country.
He was speaking at the launch of this year’s GuyExpo at the Sophia Exhibition Complex, in which there are over 400 exhibitors and participants from 18 countries in the Caribbean, North America and Asia.
“We fully support and consider necessary the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric project. It was a pleasure for me to read that major agreements [to this end] were signed in China,” he said. He noted that while there is a lot more work to be done by the various actors, financial closure could come in nine months or earlier.
With the availability of a more reliable and less expensive supply of electricity, Webster said, the manufacturing sector could come into its own.
He also spoke of the need for the dredging of the Demerara River and the creation of a deep water harbour there as being essential for the reduction of shipping costs.
He said too that there is need for road connectivity with continental neighbours, which would open up markets for Guyana.
According to Webster, GuyExpo has evolved from the time of its genesis in 1995, when it was mainly focused on showcasing the manufacturing sector. “GuyExpo is an example of what could be achieved when the government and the Private Sector work together to achieve success in [any particular area],” said Webster.
He noted that the country’s economy is on the move despite economic turmoil internationally and he added that the economic performance in the first half of the year shows that the Private Sector is a driver. The industries that are private sector-led, such as rice, and gold mining, he said, are the ones that have registered the growth for the economy. “We hope that this would expand into the future,” he further noted.
Webster also pointed out that exports of the private sector for 2011 from Guyana amounted to $1.1 billion but he also noted that problems remain. He said that real GDP in 2012 is expected to be 3.8 per cent and noted that one of the challenges of the country is to keep this growth sustained. He said to do this, the country needs major investment.
Acting Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Irfaan Ali said that the Private Sector must be the bedrock on which the economic advancement is made. He said that in this process, the government has a role to play in supporting the private sector.
Ali urged local businessmen to reinvest their money in Guyana, since this country presents an excellent platform in which the private sector can grow.
The minister said that public-private partnerships have proven to be the greatest catalyst for economic growth and expansion in many countries and he spoke of some of the projects being done through this method of partnership.
He also urged business owners to allow their companies to be publicly traded as a means of raising capital for investment.
“We have to move beyond the family environment framework. Competition is not bad, you must embrace it,” Ali said. “We must be open and transparent, both in government and in the private sector to engage in the public trading of shares and raising capital by the sale of shares,” he added.
Ali said that the government intends to remove every stumbling block standing in the way of tourism and the potential it holds. He spoke of medical tourism and the opportunities that Guyana will see when it completes the India-funded speciality hospital. He said that the surpluses derived from the operation of this facility could go towards providing health care for local persons.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sam Hinds, who is performing the duties of the president, said there is need to invest in Guyana’s tourism sector and noted that the private sector is the leading sector in modernising Guyana’s economy. He said that GuyExpo was one of the early aspirations of the then newly-elected PPP/C Government in 1992.
Earlier in the evening, Hinds presented a number of awards of appreciation to past tourism ministers for their work in putting on GuyExpo over the years.
