Business

Stabroek Business has learnt that arrangements are in train for the long-awaited establishment of a Small Business Bureau under Section 6 of the 2004 Small Business Act which will effectively complete the creation of an administrative support mechanism for the consolidation of a structured small business regime in Guyana.

– collaborating with CESO to fill training gaps in tourism sector The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) has provided the Stabroek Business with details of its plans to work with the non-profit organization, Canadian Executive Services Overseas (CESO) to plan and implement a near country-wide three-year programme in the local tourism and hospitality sector that targets critical areas of weakness in the sector with a view to better positioning Guyana to increase its market share in the global tourism and hospitality industry.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 350’s trading results showed consideration of $1,292,433 from 119,400 shares traded in 12 transactions as compared to session 349 which showed consideration of $1,202,127 from 66,789 shares traded in 9 transactions. 

(Prepared by the Guyana marketing Corporation and published by Stabroek News Business as a public service)

Despite the protracted uneasiness in relations between Guyana and Suriname arising out of a still unresolved territorial claim by Guyana’s eastern neighbour the Corporation says that agricultural exports to Suriname almost trebled over the five year period between 2003 and 2008, increasing from $1 billion in 2003 to $2.9 billion two years ago.

The commercialization of child sex abuse in the tourism sector in some Caribbean territories is becoming an escalating problem, according to a recent study commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Qualfon’s unacceptable discourtesy towards representatives of our local media during last week’s tour of the company’s business premises by President Bharrat Jagdeo, presents the Guyana Press Associa-tion (GPA) with an opportunity to demonstrate its preparedness to defend and protect the interests of media workers.

– Chief Meat and Food Inspector The Georgetown municipality’s inability to effectively monitor and regulate the growing practice of urban food vending may be rendering the capital increasingly vulnerable to public health risks according to Chief Meat and Food Inspector Jagdeep Singh.

Private sector to visit Roraima state before year end A return visit to the Brazilian state of Roraima by a sizeable Guyanese business delegation following last week’s ground-breaking encounter with a multi-sectoral Brazilian business team in Georgetown is likely before the end of 2010, according to President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana Paul Stephenson.

– blames ‘governance deficiencies’ for crisis Government interventions like last month’s infusion of $258 million into the country’s rice industry to stave off the El Nino-related threat to an estimated $600 million worth of rice under cultivation are unlikely to avert losses to the industry that could amount to a significant portion of the total current rice crop, according to a Region Three rice farmer and one-time PPP activist.

Pipe Dream As Guyanese consumers absorb the implications of the 2010 budget on their lives, they must also get used to hearing the country talk much about diversifying the economy and achieving very little. 

Jacquelyn Hamer is a retired Guyanese diplomat and a Director of the skills training organization Visions of Excellence.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 349’s trading results showed consideration of $1,202,127 from 66,789 shares traded in 9 transactions as compared to session 348 which showed consideration of $1,938,424 from 174,070 shares traded in 14 transactions. 

Says legitimizing illegal Suriname cross-border trade should be taken seriously Commercial and trade relations between Guyana and neighboring states should not be sacrificed on the altar of territorial controversies and Guyana should seize whatever feasible opportunities to strengthen relations with contiguous countries, according to Chairman of the Private Sector Commission Captain Gerry Gouveia.

Business Editorial Whoever was responsible for bringing the Guyanese business community and the large Brazilian business delegation from the state of Roraima together earlier this week  – and we understand that it was a Go-Invest initiative – ought to take a bow.

By Jacquelyn Hamer In the course of my enquiries into aspects of small business development in Guyana the outcomes of which I have been using as a basis for publication of occasional columns in this newspaper I learnt of the existence of the Guyana Small Business Association (GSBA) which, I was advised, has been serving as an umbrella organization for small and micro-sized local businesses  for some time.

The business community in the Brazilian state of Roraima is making no secret of its interest in strengthening business ties with Guyana and the 50-member mixed business delegation that travelled overland from northern Brazil to engage the Guyanese business community earlier this week provides the first major indication that the Brazilians are keen to take advantage of the prospects that have been opened up by last year’s commissioning of the Takutu Bridge.

Global Competitiveness Report The 2009/2010 Global Competitiveness Report prepared by the World Economic Forum, has cited high taxation, crime and theft and corruption as ‘the three “most problematic factors” associated with doing business in Guyana.