-Global Competitiveness Report
Guyana is deemed to have the lowest level of efficiency in legal measures for settling disputes than any other Caribbean territory, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011.
The report also found that compared with the rest of the Caribbean, Guyana is considered to be less vulnerable to politically-driven business decisions than Jamaica. In the area of “business costs of crime and violence” both Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica are considered more expensive, in terms of costs associated with crime. Similarly, the sister CARICOM countries are considered better-known to organized crime than Guyana.
However, Guyana is again ranked the lowest in the Caribbean in terms of the reliability of local police services as well as in the area of the impact of the level of taxes on incentives to work or invest.
Although the country has received fair to moderate ratings in several areas, including burdensomeness of government regulations, strength of investor protection and agricultural policy, areas such as costs associated with crime and violence, reliability of police services, extent and effects of taxation, trade tariffs and levels of effectiveness of customs services were rated poor.
Since 2005, the World Economic Forum has based its competitiveness analysis on the Global Competitiveness Index, a comprehensive index for measuring national competitiveness, capturing both the micro and macro economic fundamentals of competitiveness in the process.
Within the key costs relevant to the state of the health of the business community, the Global Competitiveness Report gives Guyana ratings between 40 and 127 out of 136 countries rated in the study. The highest rating afforded Guyana (40) is in the area of “agriculture policy costs.” The rating derives form the question as to whether the country’s agricultural policy balances the interests of taxpayers, consumers and producers. Guyana also secures a high rating (48) when the study gives consideration to the degree of burdensomeness associated with the business sector’s compliance with government regulations and (59) when consideration is given to the extent to which the country protects investor interests.
Relatively favourable ratings are also accorded to Guyana in the areas of quality of roads (69), private sector investment in staff training (61) and prevalence of trade barriers (78). However, the country’s ratings drop significantly in a number of key areas, including quality of port infrastructure (103), quality of electricity supply (116), extent and effect of taxation (125) and efficiency of customs procedures (121). The study also rates Guyana less than highly in areas such as affordability of financial services (91), ease of access to loans (94), favouritism in decisions of government officials (99), efficiency of the legal framework in settling disputes (109), transparency in government policy (84), and organized crime (96).
