Finding creative ways of bringing relief to Guyanese consumers at a time when the impact of the current economic downturn has resulted in reduced spending power ought to be one of the primary concerns of the local private sector, according to President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Chandradat Chintamani.

And according to the GCCI Chairman there are innovative ways in which the private sector, with the support of government, can fashion initiatives that can help reduce the impact of the rising cost of living.

“I believe that we, the private sector that is, have a moral obligation to pursue such initiatives and I believe that it is entirely possible to make them happen.”

Chintamani disclosed that he is currently working in his capacity as GCCI President to develop practical responses to consumer challenges. He said that while he would prefer to defer details of those responses, he expected that they would require the involvement of the broader private sector and some state agencies.

Meanwhile, the GCCI President is calling for a more engaged and innovative private sector which he said can play a critical role in seeing Guyana through the current economic downturn. “What we need is a private sector that seeks to revisit the way in which it conducts its business in the current economic climate,” he added. He said that he believed that the GCCI can play an important role in bringing about that changed outlook.

Asked whether he felt that there was sufficient public/private sector collaboration in the process of fashioning responses to the current crisis Chintamani said that while he believed that there was need for the two to work more closely, he felt that the private sector needed to do far more, “on its own,” to seek to make the contribution that it is positioned to make to the crisis response.