During this year the government is expected to advance the implementation of the Single Window Automated Processing System (SWAPS) at the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh on Monday told Parliament during his budget speech that the implementation of this system, which will take place over a two-year period, is expected to further reduce the cost and time incurred by businesses. It will simplify, harmonize and electronically integrate the business processes of the licensing bodies that account for the transactions associated with Guyana’s trade, he said.
According to Singh the project, upon completion, is expected to reduce the time required to process a request for an import/export licence from 3-5 working days to within one working day. Further, he said additional modules will be added to the TRIPS system, including manifest and third party modules which will strengthen system for detecting false declarations.
Singh said that during this year there would be a comprehensive review of the Competition and Fair Trading Act 2006 and particular attention will be given to mergers and acquisitions, along with the building and implementation of a database. He said the secretariat of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which functioned in a modest capacity last year, aims to be fully staffed to continue and intensify its training and to launch a more aggressive media campaign to raise awareness of its functions.
During this year too there will be a review of extant legislation on the insurance sector in the light of the Clico debacle with the aim of identifying areas for possible strengthening, along with a similar review of the arrangements to supervise credit unions. The ultimate goal of this will be to bring the latter entities under the supervision of the Bank of Guyana while guidelines on related party transaction are also expected to be issued in 2011.
According to Singh, the strong regulatory and supervisory framework established for the financial sector by the government over years, served the financial system well through the recent regional and global crises, with the domestic financial institutions remaining relatively unaffected by external events, with the exception of Clico.
Meanwhile, Singh said that during this year Guyana will continue to provide intellectual leadership to the global discourse and policy debates on the subject of climate change. He said the government will continue to strenuously support the efforts of the Caribbean Community to deepen the regional integration movement.
“We must prove the doomsayers wrong,” said while adding that Caricom is as important as it was when it was founded over three decades ago.
“We will learn from mistakes and emerge even stronger and more united. We owe this not just to the founding fathers of this movement but to the people of our region who deserve no less but to live assured of an acceptable standard of living in one Caribbean space with one Caribbean identify,” Singh told the House.
