Private Sector must be bold in breaking trade barriers within Caricom – President Ali

The local Private Sector has been challenged to be bold and more aggressive in its negotiations with the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in order to break the existing trade barriers.
This charge was given by President Dr Irfaan Ali during his address at the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association’s (GMSA’s) 25th Annual Awards Ceremony, which was held at State House.
“Your engagement with Caricom must be bold. It is time we break down the barriers to trade. It is time we stake our place, whilst we have the capacity and will to invest on food security. The Private Sector needs to push hard on all the barriers that prevent our goods and services from entering a free market, an open market, a unified market in CARICOM,” he contended.
The Head of State pointed out that this is not only a duty for the Government, but the Private Sector must also take up responsibility in asserting its place nationally and within the region.
“The Private Sector and the Manufacturing Association must see themselves as integral. They have an integral role to play, an integral part to play – not a complaining role or a complaining part. It is for this reason that we’re involving the Private Sector in every aspect of development,” he posited.
According to the Head of State, not only has the Private Sector been included on State boards, but it was a Private Sector leader who led the Local Content dialogue. He was referring to GMSA President Shyam Nokta, who chaired the Local Content Panel that presented its first report to Government.
To this end, he emphasised the need for the local Private Sector to prepare itself to capitalise on the scale of opportunities that will come its way.
“The Private Sector must be bold enough to recognise where there are challenges, where they are shortcomings. We, too, have to understand that if we’re to benefit from the opportunities that will come, we have to change our mode of doing business. We have to come together; you have to form consortiums. The family-approach to business will fast disappear with the scale of opportunities that will come…We have to work together to improve our competitiveness. We have to work together to improve our competitive strength, and we have to work together to increase our market share, not only in Guyana, but first of all in CARICOM, and then beyond,” he asserted.
In fact, President Ali disclosed that, earlier on Wednesday, the Ministerial Technical Team was already renegotiating the Partial Scope Agreement on trade with Brazil, to have greater quotas for Guyanese goods, to have more access, and to expand the products that have access.
Moreover, the Head of State went on to say that the impending expansion of Guyana’s economy will open the floodgates to business opportunities as well as enlarge the country’s fiscal space to better address deficiencies in the productive sectors. On this note, he said Government would promulgate policies to expand, strengthen and diversify manufacturing and services.
According to Ali, manufacturing and services will become a mainstay of the ‘new economy’. In the same breath, however, he said the traditional sectors will not be neglected. Despite the problems which confront these sectors, the President contended, they still collectively continue to be a lifeline for tens of thousands of Guyanese.
He outlined that agriculture, fisheries, forestry and mining account for 15.5 per cent of the total employed population, while adding that sugar, rice, bauxite, gold and timber earned US$1.3 billion in export earnings in 2019. As such, he stressed that agriculture remains the bastion of local food security.
“The traditional sectors are a vital market for the manufacturing and services sector. It therefore makes good economic sense to maintain these sectors and to modernise them so that they make an even greater contribution to national output; and in the case of sugar, rice and timber, to value-added production,” President Ali posited.
However, the Head of State noted that the key to prosperity and economic success is competitiveness.
“The small size of the country’s internal market means that Guyana’s economy can only grow to the extent that it become more export-oriented. And in order to become a global player, Guyana’s goods and services must become more competitive. The high cost of energy has been a major challenge and constraint to the competitiveness of local manufacturing. We are fixing that problem,” he stated.
The President further stated that while there is excitement about the development of oil and gas, there should also be more enthusiasm about the plans which are in stream to fashion a more competitive manufacturing and services sector.
As such, he called on the Private Sector to be more proactive in going after opportunities, and to be bold in its thinking as well as innovation.