Business

$60M loan sealed with World Bank private sector arm The Small Business Development Finance Trust on Tuesday announced that it had funded over 540 micro and small loans to the value of $ 147, 245,000 during 2008, in spite of the challenging economic environment.

The Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Development Association elected a new executive committee to oversee and manage its operations for 2009/2010 at its AGM held on June 4.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 310’s trading results showed consideration of $600,980 from 47,140 shares traded in 5 transactions as compared to session 309 which showed consideration of $16,690,500 from 385,000 shares traded in 3 transactions. 

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

Report cites lack of info on listed companies, poor knowledge of share trading If Guyana is to attract more external investment and stimulate increased trade it is important that the country focus more attention on improving its corporate governance framework for investors and trade partners.

Says polymer has proven its worth, can cut costs by up to 30% Guyana is among several Caribbean countries being targeted for the application of new, less expensive road building technology which, according to the South African owner of the company that created the breakthrough, can significantly reduce road construction costs to developing countries.

We welcome the telephone calls that we have received over the past two weeks from three separate  persons purporting to be speaking for Amerindian communities expressing the view that our recent reporting  on the mining sector based on interviews with Acting Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC)  William Woolford and Executive Director of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners’ Association (GGDMA)   Edward Shields may have created the impression that the sense of recklessness and irresponsibility that has frequently characterized some mining operations in the interior was a thing of the past.

This year’s edition of Global Development Finance, the report by the World Bank on the state of the international economy focuses in its entirity on the global finanxcial and economic crisis, its current and projected impact on both developed and developing countries and the prognosis for recovery.

-visiting businessman A visiting South African businessman has told Stabroek Business that the economic success which South Africa continues to enjoy is attributable in large measure to the fact that the country has been able to deal successfully with its divisions, “including its political and cultural  differences”, in a mature way.

Local manufacturing executive, Mr Carol Evelyn, has been elected President of the Carib-bean Association of Industry and Commerce Inc (CAIC).

External financing climate dismal The World Bank’s recent gloomy review of the current global financial and economic crisis has pinpointed Latin America and the Caribbean as being among regions that will face “a dismal external financial climate” in 2009 resulting in negative growth this year.

-8% down from 2007, turnover up 16% J.P. Santos and Company Ltd.

Finding a niche in a harsh economic climate A young University of Guyana graduate  is confronting the tough times facing his depressed community by exploiting an unlikely service niche in his local market.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 309’s trading results showed consideration of $16,690,500 from 385,000 shares traded in 3 transactions as compared to session 308 which showed consideration of $938,141 from 71,840 shares traded in 10 transactions. 

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

The 2008 Annual Report of Demerara Tobacco has trumpeted another year of “solid performance” during which it recorded after tax profits of $928.3m.

Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir has told Stabroek Business that his Ministry is preparing to take legal action against Prime Security, the former employer of a number of security guards who were sent home in the wake of the spectacular collapse of Clico (Guyana) earlier this year.

Last week’s terse assessment of the state of the global economy and the prognosis for recovery from the current crisis by World Bank President Robert Zoellick would not have been encouraging for poor countries.

Unpleasant Truth In the global scheme of things, Guyana is not the first choice of most as a place of relaxation or pleasure, even though some aspects of social life, including the pockets of ebullient night life, would make some Guyanese argue differently.