Economic life
Guyana is not known as a major trading economy, though trade matters to its economic life. International trade looks like an innocent economic activity since participants and beneficiaries are not always as important as the product selections that become available in the shops, stores, night clubs and restaurants of choice. After all, international trade is praised for its ability to expand product choice and the wealth of a country. This movement in resources comes through the exchange of goods and services and the relocation of production facilities in host countries. It gives consumers in different countries access to goods and services that are not produced in their home country. As innocuous as it might seem, international trade can lead to a disadvantage of economic actors in society through the reallocation of resources from the public policy decisions of government. It could also lead to a redistribution of wealth among members of the economy while leaving important economic sectors out. This happens through the process of private investment and through conscious government policy as this article intends to show.
Losing battle
It appears as if Guyana has decided to stake its fortune on international trade notwithstanding the disadvantage that it has in the exchange with other countries. Since 2006, foreign trade has constituted about 40 per cent of the Guyana economy. This measure of the openness of the Guyana economy indicates that the export of goods and services remain important to