Says he will not preside over weak Commission
Newly elected Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Captain Gerry Gouveia has told Stabroek Business that he has no intention of allowing differences of opinion between government and the private sector to derail the PSC’s agenda for the growth and development of the business sector specifically and Guyana in general.
“I am not so naïve that I am not aware that differences are bound to arise between the private sector and the government from time to time. The evidence of such differences are clear for all to see. The fact of the matter is, however, that there is an underlying relationship between business and government and that relationship has to be kept intact in spite of the differences. To fracture that relationship is to interfere with the very fabric of the economy,” Gouveia said.
But according to Gouveia the need for “a positive relationship” between the government and the private sector does not imply a weak private sector. “In an economy such as ours where it is the private sector that generates the wealth of the country it would be counterproductive to have anything but a robust private sector, headed by a unified and strong private sector organization, I have no intentions of presiding over a weak Private Sector Commis-sion, Gouveia added.”
Gouveia, who is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Roraima Group of Companies was unanimously elected PSC Chairman at the Commission’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday July 27,th succeeding Chairman of the Correia Group of Companies, Michael Correia. Gouveia acknowledged what he described as Correia’s “quiet and efficient” leadership.
Correia’s mostly low-key term of office as Chairman of the PSC was marred by several spats between the private sector and the government primarily over the ongoing lobby by the private sector for a review of corporate taxes and personal income taxes. Correia himself, and another former PSC Chairman, Yesu Persaud have been on the receiving end of President Bharrat Jagdeo’s opprobrium over remarks which they made on separate occasions regarding tax concessions for the private sector. Gouveia has also been criticized by President Jagdeo for comments made earlier this year regarding the purchase by government of two used Bell 206 helicopters.
The PSC comprises fourteen mainstream private sector organizations including the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) and the Institute of Private Enterprise Development. (IPED). Twenty large local companies are also corporate members of the PSC.
Gouveia told Stabroek Business that he anticipated that the PSC’s relationship with the government will be informed by mutual recognition of the importance of each other’s roles in developing the country. “As Chairman of the PSC I will be pursuing an agenda set by the members and that will be my only agenda,” Gouveia said.
Asked whether he had set himself any priorities as PSC Chairman Gouveia told Stabroek Business that while his priorities would be driven by the agenda set by the PSC’s members, he was concerned that the Commission play a greater role in supporting the development of the small business sector in Guyana. “I suppose it would be true to say that there has been a degree of insularity in the way in which the mainstream business sector has proceeded over the years. One of my concerns is with the need for the PSC to build bridges with the small business sector. Sometimes we tend to forget that small business is really the driving force behind our economy and that it provides employment and a livelihood for thousands of Guyanese. One of the things that the PSC can do to help is to intervene where it can, to provide the small sector with access to those resources that it needs to make it grow. I am convinced that there are cases in which we can actually provide beneficial leverage for the micro, small and medium business sector,” Gouveia said.
Small and medium-sized businesses in Guyana have expressed frustration over what they say are various hindrances to their expansion beyond the micro and subsistence levels including limited access to expansion capital, and lack of local, regional and international marketing opportunities. Both state and private sector officials have advocated the need for a financing facility designed to meet the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Gouveia said that he expected that the PSC would also continue to pursue what he described as “the slow, painful and highly bureaucratic customs process at our ports of entry” which he said were “a serious deterrent to business development.”
Gouveia told Stabroek Business that he considered it significant that his election to the chairmanship of the PSC coincided with the national and regional thrust to increase food production. “What is interesting about this juncture is the fact that the private sector must now re-examine the role that farming and agri-business has to play in the society. For the first time, in some instances we are likely to see a more visible agricultural sector as part of the private sector and that is something that the PSC must take account of,” he said.
