Finance Minister Ashni Singh says government is to embark on an ambitious plan this year to improve the business environment with over 60 actions to be implemented.
In his budget presentation last Monday, Singh said that government continues to see the private sector as the engine of economic growth and will “implement an ambitious action plan to address 10 policy areas of the business environment”.
The actions to be taken include areas such as starting a business, dealing with construction permits/licences, obtaining electricity service, registering property, securing credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and addressing insolvency. Singh said that the National Competiveness Council will spearhead the implementation of the action plan.
Singh said that improvements in tax administration have focused on lowering transaction time and the cost for clients. He said that the recent consolidation of several tax services in the new Camp Street location of the Guyana Revenue Authority obviates the need for clients to travel across the city to access tax services thereby reducing the cost and time taken to do business with GRA.
He added that the expansion and strengthening of integrated regional tax offices in Anna Regina, Bartica, New Amsterdam, Linden, Parika and Corriverton have led to more services being easily available.
Singh revealed that the government is currently undertaking a diagnostic study of the trade transaction environment with a view to refining the design of the Single Window Automated Processing System (SWAPS). In the interim, Singh said that the government will pursue the strengthening of interagency collaboration which is expected to cut the time required to process trade transactions.
In the area of competition and consumer protection, Singh said that over the past year, the Competition and Consumers Affairs Commis-sion (CACC) held seminars and presentations on subjects such as competition law, consumer affairs, and consumer protection in the financial sector. These initiatives benefited over 150 business owners as well as the general public.
“In order to execute its mandate more effectively and with a view of strengthening its investigative functions, over the course of this year, the CACC will be fostering stronger relationships with public and private entities. Furtherm
ore, Government will release the Rules of Procedures for investigating competition law infringements and consumer protection violation in order to streamline the complaints investigation process, and to reduce bureaucratic delays in the provision of services, with the intention of increasing the sector’s efficiency and effectiveness”, Singh said.
