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engagements with Government, principal among them through engagement with Government needs to continue.
the mechanism of the Ministerial Roundtable with the Minister of
Finance and team and which adopted a sector by sector focus with Other Key Initiatives
the first sector being Forestry and Wood-processing. The GMSA
used the opportunity to offer a comprehensive overview of the In the past year, there have been several initiatives and among
sectors, pointing out challenges and offering recommendations the keynote ones include:
for Government’s intervention. A Joint Technical Working Group
was set up to advance the discussions with over 30 actions areas UncappeD – our signature Agro-processors expo held in October
identified in the forestry and wood-processing sector alone. This 2017 and which saw over 60 exhibitors from across Guyana
was followed up with GMSA engaging the Ministry of Finance showcase their products over a period of 3 days. The first of it’s
as part of Budget 2018 consultation and where our proposals kind event certainly demonstrated that the GMSA can take on an
included measures covering issues such as: activity of such scale and magnitude and the over 4000 visitors
who attended can attest to being awed by the range of products
Taxation - where the GMSA advocated for the removal of being produced locally and which many persons were unaware
VAT on electricity. of. Awareness raising and networking were the principal
objectives of the event and we believe this was achieved to a
Public Procurement – for locally manufactured items – such as large extent. UncappeD has opened new opportunities for
pharmaceuticals, aggregate and quarry products, agro-produce support to the GMSA and the agro-processing sub-sector, both
and juices etc. to be given a greater share in public procurement with Government and leading private sector organisation and
especially when such products can meet standards and are the initiative will continue with the UncappeD Market Place that
price-competitive; and Adherence to the Small Business Laws will convene not only in Region 4, but other Regions as well.
which state that at least 20% of public spending should be
towards local procurement from small businesses. GMSA Business Luncheons and Discussions Fora allowed our
members and representatives of the private sector to listen to
Energy – where in addition to the removal of VAT on electricity, and interact with keynote speakers from important institutions
to have Adjusted/reduced tariffs for manufacturing entities including the Guyana Revenue Authority, GOINVEST, and the Food
based on performance thresholds and incentives for renewable and Drug Department among other. These fora also provided an
energy technologies along with the need for urgent action to valuable opportunity for clarifying issues affecting members and
address the transmission and distribution system and advance to help to foster a collaborative relationship with key agencies.
mature and feasible initiatives for renewable energy.
Participation in Key Activities add Fora allowed the GMSA to
The GMSA submissions also included sector-specific measures represent the interest of its members and also put forward its
covering key sectors such as forestry and wood processing, views. Key events included the Green Business Forum convened
agro-processing, services, among others. We were of the firm by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department
belief that such measures, if implemented, could help stimulate of Environment in June 2017 as part of World Environment
the economy and help to boost manufacturing. Day and where the GMSA represented the private sector and
several members showcased their green initiatives. The GMSA
In examining Budget 2018, the GMSA is pleased that several also played a key role in the planning and implementation of
measures that were advocated for the forestry and wood the PSC Business Summit 2017 which was a major initiative
processing sector have been adopted – perhaps an indication geared at bringing concensus to and arriving at a Road Map of
that the Roundtable Discussions made some progress. These actions to stimulate economy growth and address key barrier
measures include the exemption of VAT on logs and rough issues. The Summit, which convened in October 2017, was able
lumber; budgetary allocation of $120 million to commence a to bring together Government and the Opposition and facilitated
national forest inventory; budgetary allocation of $50 million participation from a national and international audience through
to partner with private sector to establish a consolidated/ live streaming. Several members of the GMSA led key topic areas
dimensioned stockyard. The measures regarding imported at the Summit including agriculture, manufacturing, forestry and
pine are also welcome. Much more still needs to be done for wood products and energy.
the forestry sector to recover from its current decline and this
requires a holistic approach. Strategic Positioning and the Future Economy

Notwithstanding these interventions, many proposed measures On several occasions during the year, I spoke of our excitement
we advocated for in areas critical to manufacturing and overall about the potential from oil and gas – but also our concerns
private sector growth are still outstanding, especially regarding with an economy that is slowing and the need to see practical
taxation, incentives and energy and which indicated that the measures so that economic sectors, including manufacturing

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