Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) President Komal Ramnauth says the registration of 99 new companies last year, including the creation of 3,246 new businesses during the first six months are evidence of significantly increased business activity.
Writing in the GCCI’s 2010 Annual Report, Ramnauth said Guyana recorded “significant” growth in the business sector last year, as reflected in a strong recovery in commercial bank credit, up 7.9 per cent during the first half of the year compared to the corresponding period on 2009.
According to Ramnauth, the expansion of commercial bank credit to the private sector apart, accelerated private sector activity was also reflected in a 9.3% expansion in value-added services by the financial and insurance services sector and a 10.2 % increase in trading activity by the wholesale and retail sector “fuelled by the growth in input levels of both consumer and intermediate goods.”
Ramnauth also alluded to “increased activity” in the mining sector and the establishment in Guyana of “exploratory operations” by several expatriate companies as further signs of positive economic activity. “These are all signs that Guyana’s economy has come a long way in the past few years and now possesses the necessary ingredients to propel us to great success and achievements in the years to come,” he said. Meanwhile, the 2010 Annual Report said the Chamber closed 2010 with a surplus of $5,572,742 exceeding the previous year’s surplus of $4,737,420 by 17.6%. The report’s assessment of the Chamber’s financial year says that its success was largely attributable to the introduction of its Business Guyana Magazine. The Chamber report says that while its budgeted income had been projected at $8, 530,000, earnings amounted to $16,787,000.
