The holding of long overdue local government polls is among the issues on the front burner for the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) this year, its President Clinton Urling says.
Addressing the GCCI’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday evening, Urling said a push for the holding of the elections—last held in 1994—would be on the agenda as part of the organisation’s advocacy to lower barriers to competitiveness in Guyana. He said that business thrives in an atmosphere where competition is encouraged.
Urling described the holding of the polls as instrumental in changing Georgetown’s current profile.
He also said the GCCI would continue to lobby for parliamentary compromise. The lack of such compromise, he noted, has been and will continue to be a threat to progress if it is not addressed.
Urling also listed the protection of intellectual property as another area of importance for the GCCI this year and he said it will be very vocal on this front, since it is something that has to change in Guyana.
The AGM was attended by several prominent business owners as well as members of the country’s political leadership and the diplomatic corps.
In the feature address, Opposition Leader David Granger identified crime as the major inhibitor of business growth in Guyana, and growth in general. Granger said that crime has the ability to decrease the confidence of business owners and other investors and can even lead to capital flight. This, he said, cripples the business community and can even lead to its retardation and that of the economy by extension, if left unchallenged.
Drug trafficking, according to Granger, is the primary source of the problem, since it is usually accompanied by an increase trade in arms. He noted that the crime rate in Guyana continues to climb and he urged those in authority to take measures to address the problem.
Meanwhile, reporting on the GCCI’s performance over the last year, Urling said that it generated $22,634,206 in revenue as a result of the progressive stance taken by its leadership and its membership.
Urling said that this was among the milestones achieved by setting, and pursuing several strategic goals, which included maintaining and increasing the GCCI’s membership, policy advocacy for the Private Sector, and ensuring financial sustainability of businesses.
Achieving these goals also entailed the hosting and holding of various workshops and other functions from January to December last year.
Urling noted that a Caribbean Export Seminar was held and an attitudinal survey was carried out in January to examine business opportunities where the Caribbean is concerned and perceptions to business, respectively.
In April, he said, a seminar on Operational Procedure Management was held with the intent of improving the way in which business is conducted. An Advocacy Committee was also set up to facilitate a more inclusive approach to policy making in the GCCI.
Another fruitful endeavour pursued in April was a collaboration with the University of Guyana Centre for Communication Studies. Urling said that $1.5 million was given to the department for the development of three separate short films for the CineGuyana brand.
In June, Urling said, the GCCI set its sights on increasing its membership, which it sought to do by creating new membership for micro and small business enterprises. Such entities would only be required to pay a yearly subscription fee of $12,000. He said that while the GCCI had set a humble goal to increase its membership by 10, it saw its ranks grow by 20, with the likes of the Princess Hotel, Japarts, New Thriving, Beepat’s, Metro, and the Texila American University joining its ranks.
The GCCI also held a seminar to assess how it could improve the services it provides to its members and a banking and investment seminar aimed at exploring the possibilities this option offers.
In December, a dinner and award ceremony was held where the GCCI presented awards to businesses who exhibited exemplary performances for 2012.
Urling trumpeted the third publication of the Business Guyana Magazine, which he noted was the single highest income earner for the Chamber. He also spoke of collaboration with the Indian High Commission to revive the Guyana-India Joint Business Council to improve Guyana’s prospects for trade with its Asian counterpart.
