Great progress has been made in Guyana’s water and housing sectors over the last 10 years because the Government of Guyana has deliberately built capacity of special agencies dedicated to and focused on each of these. GUYWA was changed and incorporated to GWI, effectively creating a more commercial approach to the water sector, and equipping the agency with a Board of Management and a management structure, human resources and systems that are business oriented. The Government created within the Ministry of Housing a Guyana Housing Authority, again focused on capacity building that would enable the efficient and effective rolling out of what has turned out to be a record- breaking housing drive.
Today, I want to argue that reigniting manufacturing and industrial development in general requires this same capacity building of a specialised institution within the Ministry of Tourism Industry and Commerce that can mobilise engage in tackling head- on the problems in the sector. Let’s recreate a Guyana Manufacturing & Industrial Development Agency under MINTIC. It may be that “industry” got lost in the middle of the TIC!! It needs to be given special attention.
This coordinating agency must be created and given a budget for human resource and for seed capital that can be used to provide inputs for small business in manufacturing, especially agro-processors. And the fund will best serve the needs, if it is Guyanese owned money that comes from central government rather than a
