Ministry to hold seminar on value-added forestry

In the wake of the furore over the failure of international timber companies to live up to their promises, the Ministry of Natural Resources is co-hosting a seminar on value-added forestry.
In recent weeks, Indian company Vaitarna and Chinese company Bai Shan Lin have been exposed in media reports as not having lived up to years-old pledges for the establishment of wood processing facilities.
The Incentives and Investment Opportunities Seminar is set for September 5 at the Guyana Forestry Commission at 9 am, according to an advertisement in today’s Guyana Chronicle, and is being held in collaboration with the Forest Products Development and Marketing Council Guyana Inc.(FPDMC),
The advertisement said that the seminar will include a presentation by the Guyana Revenue Authority highlighting available tax concessions for value-added forestry. There will also be a presentation by a representative of the Guyana Office for Investment underlining investment opportunities and investment incentives and the methodology for applying the latter. There will also be a presentation by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) on the need to be compliant with NIS regulations.
Presentations will also be made by the Minister of Natural Resources, the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association, the Forest Products Association and the FPDMC.
The seminar comes after scathing criticism of the government and investors over the export of large amounts of logs without any evident value-added operations. Earlier this month, when Stabroek News visited Wineperu on the Essequibo River where Vaitarna was supposed to be building its processing plant, no work was evident. The site for the plant had been cleared but noting had been erected even though the company has been here since 2010. On the publication of a news item pointing to its failure, Vaitarna issued a statement the same day saying it hoped to have its processing plant far advanced by the end of the year.
The absence of enforcement by the government and the Guyana Forestry Commission of these investment deals has raised public outrage. The forum appears aimed at stressing this point to forestry operators.