President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Komal Ramnauth is predicting a significant increase in prices unless fuel prices go down quickly.
Addressing a media briefing on Monday at which members of the newly-elected executive of the GCCI were presented, Ramnauth said that the Chamber was monitoring the rising fuel prices at both the global and local levels and was concerned over the trend.
Asked if rising fuel prices was likely to affect businesses to the point where they may move to reduce staff, Ramnauth said that he doubted that such an eventuality would arise.
By contrast to his concerns over the possible implications of fuel prices on the cost of living, however, the GCCI President struck a decidedly upbeat note on the performance of the country’s economy and what the Chamber regards as a sound relationship between government and the private sector. Specifically, Ramnauth drew attention to the framework for ongoing public/private sector collaboration through the mechanism of the National Competitiveness Strategy (NCS) pointing out the forum was being used as a framework for discourse on a number of key private sector issues, including the critical issue of tax reform.
On Monday, the Chamber also made available copies of its 2010 Annual Report, which chronicles other instances of collaboration between the business community and the government.
Specifically, the report lists the GCCI’s participation in the May 2010 bilateral economic cooperation meeting with a delegation from France, its participation in a May 24th briefing session on the Low Carbon Development Strategy and its participation in an August 25th meeting with the Ministry of Home Affairs to discuss security of the business sector as examples of collaborative engagement between government and the private sector. Additionally, the Chamber’s 2010 Annual Report notes its participation in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs-arranged review of the Common External Tariff and Rules of Origin and its collaboration with the Guyana National Bureau of Standards as further examples of state/private sector collaboration in 2010.
Meanwhile, according to Ramnauth, the business community considers the improvement in the administration of customs procedures to be its single greatest concern at this time. Over time, the processing has been undermined by sloth in the process of documents and, more recently, by the malfunctioning of both the container scanner acquired by the Customs authorities and the TRIPS system. Ramnauth, however, said that he was satisfied that efforts were being made to remedy these difficulties.
And in response to a question from this newspaper, the GCCI has again signaled its disapproval of the widespread non-compliance by sections of the local business houses in meeting national insurance and income tax payment obligations on behalf of employees. Ramnauth disclosed that the body had requested a list of businesses that are delinquent in the payment of employee Nation Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions but stopped short of saying what action will be taken to seek to reverse the delinquency.
Both the NIS and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) have from time to time voiced their concern over the failure by some business houses to stay abreast of their obligation to make payments on behalf of their employees. The NIS had announced last year that the total outstanding amounts in employee contributions exceeded $500,000,000. Earlier this year, a source close to the NIS told this newspaper that the situation as far as delinquency is concerned had remained “basically the same.”
While Ramnauth hinted at the likelihood of internal Chamber measures aimed at those of its members found to be delinquent in the payment of their NIS contributions, he was unable to state what those measures might be though he acknowledged that failure to meet such obligations was not in keeping with the principles of the Chamber’s Code of Conduct, which was promulgated last year.
State entities, including those administering tender procedures for government contracts, have moved to disqualify tenders that are not in compliance with NIS and GRA requirements though some potential contractors have slipped through the net by uttering forged compliances. Some years ago, the state tender board moved to plug this loophole by collaborating with the NIS to verify the authenticity of certificates of compliance submitted along with tenders.
The GCCI’s Code of Conduct seeks to have its members adhere to ideals of ethical principles and standards, in accordance with the laws of Guyana and the by-laws of the Chamber. However, the Code was “developed as a guideline” for members and is silent on the issue of enforcement.
