The former president of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has said that current demand from Business Support Organizations (BSOs) with the spin-off of Local Content that promises to emerge from an emerging oil and gas industry The country’s manifestation must be matched by a corresponding energetic lobby for creating a domestic economic environment that helps facilitate significantly wider private sector growth.
In a comment on issues hindering the growth of the Guyana economy published in this issue of Stabroek Business, Clinton Urling, the former Chamber President is leaking a broad suggestion that the local private sector bodies take what they appear to be anticipate it massively Economic surprises arising from the after-effects of local content may have created a blinkered perspective that could lead to a lesser focus on addressing the various constraints that hamper significant private sector growth.
“While organizations have risen – especially in the private sector Business Support Organizations (BSO’s), a Local Content clamor targeting the emerging repercussions of an emerging oil and gas industry, there has been no equivalent for removing the installation restrictions that stifle the private sector. potential and by extending the social solution and economic well-being of the general population. As the world economy awakens in the post-pandemic recovery, Guyana should be at the forefront of the opportunity to prepare itself for economic prosperity. This is not – at least so it seems – where we are currently, ”Urling writes.
The owner of the iconic German Restaurant, almost certainly the oldest urban restaurant in Guyana, writes that private sector focus attention could be on the potential returns to local businesses anticipated from economic activity related to the oil and gas sector be blinding his eyes is crucial. weaknesses in the country’s economic profile that must be addressed if it is to move forward.
Urling’s comments came against the background of some broader observations about what he considers to be structural deficiencies in the country’s economic development profile that, if not corrected, he said, could still injure the country’s development trajectory, the promised financial returns from emerging oil in the country. despite the gas industry.
The GCCI has recently been a strong lobbyist for consolidating the country’s local content credentials and locating local businesses to reap those benefits that might accrue and which, according to many, are likely to exclude the vast majority of business enterprises small country.
While failing to recognize the economic prospects that business growth could bring from local content, Urling argues that even as the world economy contemplates recovery after COVID-19, Guyana must move to rectify some of the deep deficits in its economy if it is to prepare itself for the expected “economic boom” promised by the oil and gas industry.
“As the world economy awakens in the post-pandemic recovery, Guyana should be at the forefront of the opportunity to prepare itself for the impending economic boom that promises to emerge from the oil and gas industry,” he said.
According to Urling, his emergence as a local businessman stemmed from his work modernizing and transforming the German Restaurant into a modern restaurant, lamenting the fact that since embracing “free market principles developed by the private sector to lead the country’s productive industries more than thirty. years ago ”Guyana has developed and embraced“ all sorts of national development plans and ideas that seek to clarify what has held us back and what remedies could potentially remove the systemic constraints. “His analysis concludes that, as a country, Guyana” has yet to remove or reconcile the barriers identified as we continue to struggle to achieve our full potential, prosperity and long-term economic stability. “
Urling, who over the past few years has further highlighted his entrepreneurial acumen by creating a branch of German Restaurant in New York, tagged the country’s failure, over time, “to foster the kind of business environment that could compete on a world scale wide. ”As a key reason for its failure, over the years, to attract meaningful investment.
Noting that Guyana has never been ranked in the top 100 (out of 190 countries) in either the Global Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index or the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, it highlights the need for significant improvement in these areas if there is any general improvement in the country’s economic fortunes. Guyana’s performance, he said, “is emblematic of the region, as no Caribbean economy has appeared in the world’s top 10 improvers in the past four years and none of them rank in the top 50. Similarly, the region as a whole is underperforming in measures such as property registration and obtaining credit. For example, registering a property in the Caribbean takes 90 days; almost double the 47-day global average, ”he writes.
And according to Urling Guyana has, over time, missed “key opportunities” to set the pace for itself and the region. He noted that, in 2015, former Business Minister Dominic Gaskin declared bureaucracy as something his government wanted no part of, and that Guyana would work to improve in areas where they were marked as flawed, as stated in Bank the world. index, since then, the country has fared worse, falling from 123rd in 2015 to 134 in 2019. “One would have hoped that if the government commitment had been as genuine and genuine as possible, Guyana would, at least , has gradually improved its position in the World Bank index, ”Urling points out.
And according to Urling, the movement for real change continues to “limp forward at a light pace, offering only half-hearted cosmetic moves instead of meaningful reforms that are meant to be improved in the long run.”
The Guyanese businessman referred to the “several sweeping constraints to business development” that he exists that he believes can be easily identified by anyone and should be addressed urgently if we are going to get serious about economic development, especially as the post-pandemic. economy. ”He claims some of the most obvious limitations are“ skills shortages and training gaps; bureaucratic congestion in public agencies; high costs of finance and electricity; an outdated, threatened and unsecured land and property transfer system; inconsistent and uneven processes for the transfer of state assets, an outdated electoral system; inadequate e-commerce platforms and data protections; scarce support for the development of large and small businesses, and a flawed, inefficient judicial system to deal efficiently with commercial disputes. ”