Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Desmond Sears has called for unity between the political parties and has urged support for the government of the day.
Speaking about his expectations for the new year in his Christmas message, Sears said, “…my very first wish, and this is shared by all in the Private Sector Commission, is for genuine unity between the political parties who have the option of uniting Guyana through their collective will. I would also like to urge all stakeholders to work towards supporting the government of the day, regardless of personal political preference.”
In terms of plans for the new year, Sears said that the PSC will be hosting a seminar on the Dutch Disease early in the year. This will be followed in February by another seminar on the oil and gas sector and how businesses can best position themselves to reap maximum benefits.
In early March, the PSC, in collaboration with the British High Commission, will host a seminar on post-Brexit arrangements for trade between the United Kingdom and Guyana. “We expect that this seminar will put to rest the concerns of local businesses. We will also have another in our series of seminars on corporate governance, this time on the governance of family-owned businesses,” he said. The seminars are hosted in collaboration with the Caribbean Corporate Governance Institute.
“In 2019, we will be even closer to harvesting the fruits of our newly discovered oil reserves and, even as we welcome foreign investors to our shores, I would like to see our local companies also investing in the sector but in the context of a level playing field with a clearly defined local content policy,” Sears said.
He also noted that a focus of the PSC in 2019 will be more female participation not only in its sub-committees, but in the senior ranks of member companies. “We will be working with the United Nations Development Programme to push for the adoption of the Gender Seal which is a commitment to institute the necessary policies and practices which advance the participation of women in our firms,” he said.
The Commission will continue to work with Go-Invest, the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Ministries of Public Infrastructure, Business and Finance, and all other entities with whom it has been collaborating, Sears said. “We will also continue our work in developing and finalising the Green State Development Strategy which will guide our collective efforts as a nation for years to come,” he added.
Sears had earlier noted that 2018 has been a busy year for the PSC and it had engaged stakeholders ranging from policymakers to the diplomatic community and scores of companies, both local and foreign. He recalled that the PSC successfully hosted a seminar on corporate governance which has propelled the need for effective governance of local companies onto the front burner.
“We have also hosted a seminar on oil and gas and plans are in place for a larger event which we will hold in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank early in 2019 and which will explore the dangers of the Dutch Disease and how it can be avoided,” he said.
The PSC chairman also recalled that in 2018, the PSC was closely involved in the planning of the GUYTIE, an exhibition which targeted potential investors from around the world and showcased the best that Guyana has to offer. It was a great success, he said.
Sears also recalled that the PSC had extensive consultations with the Guyana Elections Commission and fielded the largest group of observers “who worked tirelessly to monitor the Local Government Elections in November and played a small part in ensuring their success.”
He pointed out too that the Commission was consulted by Minister of Finance Winston Jordan as he planned for Budget 2019 and one measure recommended again by the Commission to increase investment, and grow the economy, was the gradual lowering of the Corporate Income Tax rate to 20% over a period of ten years.
“We are satisfied that progress has been made towards this ideal with the Minister’s lowering of the rate for non-commercial companies to 25%,” Sears said.
