– new fee structure provides greater access for small businesses
– to launch new investment magazine in January
Efforts by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) to secure a meeting with the Customs and Trade Administration (CTA) ahead of the approaching Christmas season to expedite bottlenecks associated with the clearance of goods arriving at local ports are yet to be responded to by the CTA, according to the Chamber’s Executive Director Candace Fields.
Speaking with Stabroek Business earlier this week on a range of initiatives currently being taken by the Chamber to enhance the quality of its service to members, Fields said that letters to the CTA requesting a meeting to iron out bottlenecks in the importation process have not met with a response so far. According to the official the anticipated increase in the volume of imports to Guyana ahead of the busiest commercial period makes an early meeting with the Customs authorities “an urgent priority” for Chamber members.
Over the years, the delays in expediting clearance of goods arriving in the country during the weeks preceding Christmas has given rise to complaints from importers who are critical of what the red tape associated with Customs procedures. During the weeks prior to Christmas last year, Chamber President Chandradat Chintamani had told Stabroek Business that he had held meetings with the then Director of the CTA Colonel (retd) Chabilall Ramsarup to discuss importers’ concerns. Chintamani had told Stabroek Business that his discussions with the then CTA head had borne some fruit, pointing to the decision by Customs to move to process imports ahead of their arrival based on the submission of the relevant documents by importers. However, Fields told Stabroek Business that the Chamber continues to receive complaints from members about delays in the processing of imports.
Despite its ongoing concern over Customs clearance issues, however, the GCCI Executive Secretary was upbeat about the performance of the Chamber this year. “We have been able to offer our members much more this year and there have been some instances in which we have provided direct representation for individual members,” Fields told Stabroek Business. She said that the Chamber was also seeking to enhance other forms of assistance to its members including support in accessing markets for their products overseas.
“The Chamber has been seeking to provide more support and assistance for its members at the international level and, locally, at the governmental level. We believe that it is preferable that the various businesses within our organization bring all of their issues to the table and have us raise those issues at the national level. We believe too that we can be more effective in providing information to visitors to the country and to Trade Commissioners who are seeking to secure information on aspects of business in Guyana,” Fields said.
This year, according to Fields, the GCCI has also been instrumental in facilitating member participation in business-related workshops including a May marketing seminar hosted by the United States Embassy in Georgetown in collaboration with the Chamber for businesses in Georgetown and Linden. “Of course, the other side of the coin is that we want to have our members participating in these seminars,” she added.
The GCCI, meanwhile, has completed a key constitutional reform initiative which, according to Fields includes a critical revision of its fee structure for membership. “One of the significant developments of our revised fee structure is that small businesses now pay a lower membership fee. Up to last year all businesses that are members of the Chamber paid a standard fee. Under the new structure we have decided to categorize businesses.”
The Executive Director explained that the new fee structure now renders the Chamber more accessible to small business, ‘We consider this an important development since the Chamber has now better positioned itself to contribute to the development of small businesses. In effect what we have done is to create room within the Chamber for a broader range of businesses,” Fields added. Meanwhile, Fields told Stabroek Business that the creation by the Chamber of a new website earlier this year was one of the key accomplishments under its five-year work plan promulgated late last year. Fields told Stabroek Business that the new web site which has been funded by a member of the Chamber has been “modernized” and contains a number of new features designed to help members access information that has a direct bearing on the efficiency of their own businesses. “One of the key new features of our website is the creation of linkages that now allows our members to access information on other businesses.” She said the new website also affords members access to the Chamber’s entire five-year plan and allows businesses to secure information on the benefits accruing from membership of the Chamber. Fields said the new website also affords an opportunity to learn more about the Chamber and about business in Guyana as a whole. “We have had feedback from individuals and organizations in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, among other countries, who have been accessing the site. On the whole the site has provided the Chamber with a tool with which to market itself more effectively,” Fields added.
Meanwhile, Fields said the GCCI is set to launch a new publication, Business Guyana Initiative in January next year. She said the idea behind the new publication which is being put together by the Chamber’s Trade and Investment Committee is to promote Guyana as a location for investment. “As far as the publication is concerned we are seeking contributions from both the public and private sectors.
It will include information on new industries and emerging industries and how to register businesses in Guyana and will allow potential investors who read the publication to make informed decisions on investment issues. We intend to make the publication an annual feature and to work towards ensuring its effective circulation overseas,” Fields said.
