Business

Guyana ranks 141 in shipping and logistics out of 150 countries surveyed in a World Bank study which shows that being competitive means having the capabilities to connect to international markets to ship goods.

Consumer complaints that unpackaged powdered milk being offered for sale to consumers in shops and markets is being ‘mixed’ with flour to ‘push up’ the profit margins of shopkeepers and vendors have led to calls from the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department for the milk to be “bagged and labelled” before being sold to consumers.

Stabroek Friday Business supplement is the only such publication in Guyana.

Notes 1 – Interim results 2 – Prospective EPS: earnings per share for 12 months period to the date the latest financials have been prepared.

The IMF’s 2007 Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere says the erosion of European Union (EU) trade preferences will cause Guyana to have a cumulative output decline of up to 6.5% by 2010 as the preferential sugar trade is phased out.

Stabroek Business has learnt that government has notified the Guyana Scrap Metal Dealers Association (GSMDA) of a decision to re-open the trade in ferrous metals immediately.

Earlier this week the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce issued a press statement in which it expressed its concern over the likelihood that businessmen travelling through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport could become enmeshed in set ups associated with what the release suggests is now the prevalent practice of placing illicit drugs and other illegal items in the baggage of innocent passengers.

Executive Director of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) Maureen Paul believes that Guyana’s hosting of next year’s Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) provides the tourist industry with an important opportunity to promote the local tourist industry through the Heritage Tours that allow visitors to experience first hand the cultural diversity of the country.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone N

The ability of local nature resorts to secure potentially lucrative agreements with overseas tour operators that could both boost their earnings and increase the number of visitors to Guyana is being hampered by the reluctance of the insurance industry to grant adequate insurance cover to the resorts, according to information reaching Stabroek Business.

Lyla Kissoon is an engaging, talkative woman who thrives on recounting her sixty years in business.

Notes 1 – Interim results 2 – Prospective EPS: earnings per share for 12 months period to the date the latest financials have been prepared.

In a move that points unerringly to DIGICEL’s determination to sustain its public criticism of the monopoly on international voice and data traffic held by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company, Chief Executive Officer of the local DIGICEL operations Mark Linehan told media representatives on Tuesday that the monopoly continued to serve as a disincentive to investment in the Guyana economy.

A local aviation industry official has told Stabroek Business that passengers travelling in and out of Guyana were likely to experience continued flight delays and cancellations because of the constraints facing carriers providing a service to Guyana.

Last Friday Stabroek Business published an article based on an interview with a city businessman in which he expressed a number of views about the role which he believed employees play in robberies committed on business places.

Purchasing Power: By definition the purchasing power of a dollar decreases as the price level rises.

For more than a year the monopoly enjoyed by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company in international voice and data transmission has come under scrutiny and attracted comments from government officials including President Bharrat Jagdeo.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone N

The quality of passenger service by the various service agencies operating out of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri is “in urgent need of considerable improvement” if visitor arrivals to Guyana are to increase, according to a local aviation official.

What appears to have been a brief internal power struggle for control of the Guyana Scrap Metal Dealers Association (GSMDA) has ended with the removal of Malik Cave as the Association’s Technical Director and the re-election of scrap dealer Percy Cole as Chairman.