On the heels of the disclosure made during his presentation at the Thursday August 3, Dinner and Awards Ceremony that the Guyana Manufacturing & Services Association (GMSA) would be seeking to engage government on the issue of ‘a seat’ at the ‘table’ of the state-run Small Business Bureau, GMSA President Ramsay earlier this week told the Stabroek Business that arising out of engagement with government on the issue, he will be meeting shortly with Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and Senior Minister within the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, to discuss matters affecting the members of the Association including those to which he alluded at the August 3 event.
Ali told the Stabroek Business earlier this week that the GMSA had been in receipt of positive responses to his request for a ‘sit down’ with government on a number of issues, including ways in which the GMSA can bring its practical experience to bear in important elements of the running of the Small Business Bureau. While the GMSA President made no disclosure regarding a time line for the meeting with the senior government officials, he said the move had arisen out of the conviction on the private sector body’s part that it can play a role in enhancing the performance of the state-run body responsible for administering financial support to local small businesses. While the SBB was established as a state-run entity under the provisions of the Small Business Act, questions have been raised by this newspaper, as well as by small businesses seeking the state-entity’s support, as to whether its operating procedures are not much too hinged to the ‘culture’ of the state bureaucracy to effectively serve the interests of private sector-oriented small business.