Resilience, togetherness pivotal to transforming Guyana’s economy – Boyer

President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Nicholas Boyer, has said that resilience and togetherness would rapidly transform the economy and allow Guyana to be a leading nation in the region.
Speaking at the GCCI’s 131st Annual Awards ceremony on Thursday evening, Boyer described 2020 as a year of resilience, due to the fallout from the contentious March 2020 Elections as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said many of the Chamber’s members as well as staff have had to adapt to a new way of operating and maintaining relations. According to Boyer, Guyana’s economy also showed similar resilience.
“Businesses were forced to reconfigure their operations to survive economically while still protecting their customers and employees. This unwavering effort ultimately bore fruit and saw Guyana recording 30.9 per cent economic growth at the end of the year… We led the world in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth last year.
“Unfortunately, a lot of that came from our oil sector. What we have to do for the future is translate that and build a very strong non-oil sector,” the GCCI President posited.
The GCCI President urged the membership to embrace foreign investors, which would pave the way for them to expand and develop in existing and new areas. In fact, Boyer noted, over the past year, the Chamber has built relations with Aberdeen – an oil-producing city in Scotland; and Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industries Association (NOIA) in Canada, as well as with regional partners.

“Your Guyanese economy is going to rapidly transform, and we need to learn how to do a different dance than we did before. A lot of us were focused on our domestic market, with a few firms exporting, this is the chance for our firms to grow. We will have to form these partnerships. We will have to learn, and we’ll have to inculcate new habits; but, overall, I am sure that when people look back at this time period, they will characterise us as resilient,” he asserted.
Moreover, Boyer outlined the need for cooperation with other local stakeholders.
“Working together, getting that sort of feedback into an organised manner, putting it together, making submissions, talking to policy-makers, engaging in creative discourse, not bashing in the media, and working with that togetherness is how we are going to build this nation,” he stated.

Boyer further underscored the need for a robust infrastructure plan to facilitate the massive transformation that is pegged for Guyana. With the Government having already prioritised several transformative infrastructural projects for 2021, the GCCI President pointed out that this would allow entrepreneurs to bring their ideas into reality.
“At the end of the day, everything that we think about has a physical footprint… Infrastructure is what will transform the nation, and having a robust infrastructure plan which delivers things like lower cost of energy is what will transform us. And we must embrace a rapid transformation through infrastructure, through smart policies, smart tax laws and our engagements as a local private sector,” he noted.
According to Boyer, himself Director of National Hardware Ltd, “We are the future that will take the physical infrastructure, marry it with the right sort of technology, planning, entrepreneurship, and build the Guyanese companies that I believe will go out to conquer the Caribbean,” he contended.
In the same vein, Senior Minister within the Office of the President, with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, reassured the gathering at the GCCI’s Awards Ceremony that the PPP/C Government would create a macro-economic environment that would be conducive to investments and expansion for the local private sector.
He noted that high on Government’s development agenda is transport infrastructure, which is critical to connectivity, both domestically and regionally.
“Infrastructure is essential to unlock the economic potential of our country. We know this. We know how important infrastructure is to plan for expansion… Contemplate for a moment the implications of that international connectivity for the size of the market place in which you operate. You know better than we do the advantages of scale. You know better than everybody else what it would mean if you were manufacturing for a market, or if you were harvesting, or if you were providing services for a market that is two or three or four, or that is 10 times as big as the market in which you were currently operating.
“I look forward to the day when I will see your companies establishing a presence in all our neighbours,” the Minister posited.
Meanwhile, Dr Singh told the private sector members that at no other time in Guyana’s history would they witness such a sharp and rapid transformation as they are about to see.
The Finance Minister pointed out that in addition to infrastructure, Government will continue to invest in various areas, particularly in education, so as to ensure the availability of a skilled workforce.
However, he explained that this is not the sole responsibility of the Government, and he challenged businesses to play their part in cultivating the workforce that would be needed for the future.
Thursday’s Awards Ceremony saw several local businesses and individuals being rewarded for their sterling work and leadership during the past year. Additionally, the Chamber launched a magazine at the ceremony. (G8)