Business

– integrity office reads riot act against corrupt businesses, consultants in several Latin American countries Cases of fraud and corruption inquiries involving projects funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have more than doubled over the past five years according to the recently released 2009 Institutional Integrity Report prepared by the Bank’s Office of Institutional Integrity (OII).

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 348’s trading results showed consideration of $1,938,424 from 174,070 shares traded in 14 transactions as compared to session 347 which showed consideration of $3,109,381 from 101,222 shares traded in 13 transactions. 

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

Summit communiqué charges unfair, discriminatory treatment of regionGuyana has joined the rest of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in expressing concern over the implications of Britain’s increased Air Passenger Duty (APD) for the region’s tourism and travel industries.

The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) and the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners’ Association have posited sharply differing opinions on the relationship between Amerindians in their indigenous   communities and miners plying their trade in concessions in and around those communities.

Later today representatives of the private sector will meet with the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and senior Revenue Authority officials to discuss issues pertaining to the relationship between the business sector and the GRA.

Greater and Easier Access About six months ago, the first bridge linking Brazil and Guyana was officially opened across the Takutu River. 

Beginning in May The Arthur Lok Jack School of Business will launch its In-Company Executive MBA Programme in Guyana.

Contraband cigarettes, counterfeit tobacco hurting profitability -Chintamani The operations of the Demerara Tobacco Company in Guyana last year netted  government revenues totalling more than $2.7  billion according to the company’s recently released annual report.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (BGIS) — Reliance on chemicals and pesticides could soon be a thing of the past if organic farming in Barbados continues to make its way into mainstream agriculture.

Chairman of the Agriculture Committee of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and veteran local rice farmer Beni Sankar has told Stabroek Business that a good rice yield is still possible despite the protracted period of dry weather resulting from the current El Nino weather phenomenon.

Says farmers will be unable to afford insurance premiums Veteran rice farmer Beni Sankar has told Stabroek Business that he supports the creation of a risk-protection fund for   farmers rather than the pursuit of risk insurance for the agricultural sector.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, – With a planned strike by British Airways (BA) just two days away, the airline has sought to give the assurance that contingency plans have been put in place to prevent disruption in travel to the Caribbean.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 347’s trading results showed consideration of $3,109,381 from 101,222 shares traded in 13 transactions as compared to session 346 which showed consideration of $1,505,367 from 78,450 shares traded in 8 transactions.

– unveils elaborate US$8M renovation plan Any thought that the Pegasus Hotel might be tempted to follow the Princess International into the gaming industry was effectively killed off by the Chief Executive Officer of 40-year old flagship property earlier this week when he told Stabroek Business that no casino will be established there under his watch.

Mining sector ponders alternative methods of gold recovery Even as the international community prepares to make decisive moves to reduce the production and global sales of mercury, the local mining sector, particularly the large numbers of small-scale miners, is pondering the challenge of finding alternatives to what has traditionally been the ‘approved’ method of alloying the precious metal.

Business Editorial Perhaps much later than ought to have been the case the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strauss-Khan set out what he describes as “a vision that responds to the challenges our 186 member countries are facing in the post-crisis era” in a paper delivered exactly two weeks ago to the Annual Meeting of the Bretton Woods Committee in Washington.

Rawle Lucas is a Guyanese-born Certified Public Accountant and Assistant Vice-President of the Lending Services Division.