Lack of confidence blamed for low investment– Opposition MPs

As the curtain came down on the 2017 Guyana Business Summit on Thursday, some attendees were left with the impression that a lack of confidence may be the main reason for Guyana not being able to attract both local and private business investments, which would help to create economic growth.
Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Nigel Dharamlall, who was part of a panel that discussed Sourcing Capital/Capital Market Development, raised this concern, stating that if the political climate is not stable, and if there is no positive indicator, investors may not want to come.

The MP told the gathering it is a fact that there is a high possibility investors do not have any confidence in the current Government and the business climate in Guyana, and this is good enough reason why they do not feel the need to commence businesses here.
While access to capital could also be a contributing factor, Dharamlall said, those issues present only part of the problem of limited business investment in Guyana since the new Government assumed office. He said this image needs immediate change.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the summit, Opposition MP Juan Edghill said discussions must focus on moving the private sector from the current situation it is in right now and getting the economy booming. “Let’s get confidence going! Get the correct signals sent and (take) advantage of all the opportunities that exist, and ensuring that the political climate is conducive for both local and foreign investments in Guyana,” he admonished.
Edghill also said that while the initiative is good on the part of the private sector, he feels that Government officials imposed themselves on this summit. “We have had feature addresses by every minister that showed up, many of them not dealing with the specific issues or answering the questions that were posed by the chairman of the PSC in his address at the opening session,” he clarified.
According to the former junior finance minister, President David Granger did not engage the private sector on those matters. He also observed that the President’s address spoke to the very simplistic approach to investment, something that the private sector is fully aware of, including things like innovation and institutional capacity strengthening, which according to him are very mundane.
“I would hope that the investment of human and financial resources to bring this off is not wasted, and that there is a follow-up discussion. I would propose, from the parliamentary Opposition, the private sector preparing a document coming out of the conference, and continue to engage both Government and the Opposition to get to an agreed consensual way forward,” he added.
But a member of the Private Sector, Deodat Indar, said many people were pleased with the outcome of the summit, and think that it was a huge success.
He said, “We believe it’s a start to a national institutional framework for conversation and dialogue, and we will ensure that the plan would be to (identify) items as priority, evaluated and implemented as far as practical.” The aim, he said, is to have a national dialogue and a working together to improve the economy.