– chamber says way clear for small businesses to join
Public-private sector deliberations on the creation of a development bank in Guyana have a greater chance of bearing fruit if government makes the first approach, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Indus-try Clinton Urling told Stabroek Business in a telephone interview on Monday.
He also indicated that those deliberations should be preceded by the preparation of a draft White Paper by government, which both sides can study.
“Of course we would welcome the opportunity to contribute to the creation of the instruments and mechanisms that would result in the creation of a development bank. On the other hand, the earliest initiative in that direction has to come from government. With a draft White Paper we would at least have something to work with. It is the government that has to initiate. We can only advocate,” Urling said.
Earlier this month, newly appointed presidential advisor Keith Burrowes confirmed to this newspaper that the preparation of a White Paper on the creation of a development bank was one of the earliest undertakings which he was likely to pursue in his capacity as an aide to President Donald Ramotar. Burrowes told Stabroek Business that he had noted Urling’s public reference to the desirability of a development bank to help support the growth of the small business sector in Guyana.
Urling told Stabroek Business that the Chamber’s preference was likely to be for an institution modelled after the Jamaican small business banking institution. “I have had a look at the model and what impresses me is the long-term nature of the commitment which it gives to small businesses in Jamaica. I believe that the institution has been doing pretty well.”
Urling said the need for a financing institution that could help support the growth of the small business sector had become increasingly important in the light of the growing realisation of the significant contribution which small businesses make to the country’s economy.
And Urling told Stabroek Business that mechanisms were now fully in place for small businesses which, hitherto, were not allowed to become members of the GCCI to do so. “We want to urge the small business community to take advantage of the opportunity which the chamber is now affording for them to become members,” Urling said. “We have set a membership fee of $1,000 and the benefits which we can offer far outweigh the cost of membership.”
Urling explained that part of the challenge facing the small business sector in Guyana was, in some cases, a lack of orthodox business acumen. “There are things that the Chamber can do to help small enterprises develop the skills to grow their businesses,” Urling said.
