The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) yesterday warned the government here against signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a number of areas with Trinidad and Tobago until Port of Spain removes non-tariff barriers (NTB) on Guyanese goods.
Trinidad’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is here at the head of a delegation for an agricultural conference and it is expected that a MoU will be signed with the Guyana Government.
“The Chamber wishes to express its disagreement with this action by the Government of Guyana. The Chamber’s concern comes in light of the fact that there are still many non-tariff barriers (NTBs) implemented by Trinidad and Tobago against Guyana,” a statement released by the GCCI yesterday read.
“These NTBs prevent exports from Guyanese businesses and, by extension inhibit the growth of Guyanese enterprises. Accordingly, the Chamber of Commerce, as it did in 2018 with a previous MoU of a similar nature, strongly urges the Government to refrain from signing any MoU with Trinidad and Tobago until these non-tariff barriers are removed,” it added.
President of the GCCI, Timothy Tucker, told Stabroek News that while the organisation is unclear about the contents of the likely MoU, he believes that any possible arrangement with the Trinidad and Tobago government should first address concerns of Guyanese businesses, as they have for too long complained about trade barriers.
“They need to deal with the issues that are at the table that we had raised four years ago and is still being raised four years later. The last time that a MoU was signed with Trinidad and Tobago, the GCCI objected for a number of reasons, and now here we are, another four years later, and the Private Sector still faces the same issues we did then,” Tucker said.
There were mixed reactions to the GCCI statement from executives of other private sector bodies that this newspaper spoke with.
Chairman of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), Rafeek Khan, says that the body has discussed asking government to pause any MoU signing. He disclosed that the GMSA currently has discussions with the TTMA about numerous issues.
When a TTMA delegation was here in March, they had lamented that non-tariff barriers were hampering imports of agricultural produce from Guyana and called on the political directorate, throughout the region, to clear the hurdles.
“Our import is TT$6B and Guyana is professing it can feed the entire region. There is also Belize and Suriname they have the (land) mass to do it… Why can’t we source the tomatoes from [Guyana] to make the tomato paste? It is not that the private
sector in Trinidad don’t want it to come to Trinidad. The political directorate needs to get these things right,” Chief Executive Officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA), Dr Mahindra Ramdeen had said.
Private sector executives spoken to yesterday all requested anonymity with some saying that they would speak when a MoU is made public.
“It makes no sense supporting a call that Guyana not sign an MoU with Trinidad, or any other country for that matter, when we do not know what are the contents of that MoU,” a senior PSC executive was quoted as saying.
“At the Private Sector Commission, we have not discussed the GCCI statement so we cannot support or not support it. We were only aware of the GCCI statement yesterday when someone drew attention to something your newspaper had. So at this time we won’t comment,” another executive remarked.
As far as the GCCI President is concerned, the Chamber did not need to seek support for its statement as it feels that by virtue of being one of the oldest private sector bodies with over 600 businesses as members, it has a duty to speak up on issues affecting the business community.
“This is our position. We did not seek support from anyone, we decided as we did four years ago to make this known. GCCI also represents 620 businesses… and being the largest and oldest and one which is catered for in the constitution, we find it is our duty to do so. This is a decision that the Council of the GCCI made.”
“There are trade barriers hindering businesses here from progressing. As an advocacy body we find it our duty to object and highlight and state those issues. So if Guyana is going to sign a MoU, it has to be beneficial to the private sector as well,” Tucker added.
The statement echoed a similar stance. “Being the oldest and largest private-sector representation organization in Guyana, it is our mandate to ensure that the concerns of the enterprises that have continuously expressed difficulties as it relates to doing business in and with Trinidad and Tobago are voiced. The Chamber of Commerce, therefore, reiterates its disagreement with this action by the Government of Guyana and, once again, urges that these longstanding NTBs be removed.”
Asked if the GCCI had reached out to the T&T government to register their concerns, Tucker responded that they had not, but assured that they are “always open to any sort of dialogue which will be of benefit”.
He noted that there has been “no feedback from either party,” but that the GCCI stands ready to speak with the T&T Prime Minister or representatives “if given the opportunity.”
The GCCI’s statement was the latest salvo by local business interests who resent the deepening Trinidadian interest in oil & gas and other sectors here when Port-of-Spain has for decades been accused of throwing up unacceptable barriers to a range of Guyanese goods.
