GCCI launches new edition of investment magazine

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) launched the fourth edition of its investment magazine Business Guyana at a ceremony on Tuesday evening, where Mexico’s Ambassador to Guyana said businesspersons have to be bold and creative while seeking new markets.

GCCI President Clinton Urling, who noted that the magazine has become the highest income earner for the chamber, stated that the new edition represented a different direction, with a new designer and a new publisher both being used.

The new edition of the magazine includes an explainer of the Guyana Investment Act and how to obtain tax exemptions in Guyana while investing, articles on the various micro-finance opportunities for entrepreneurs and it also showcases some of Guyana’s longest and most successful business ventures, such as Air Services limited.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Editor of Business Guyana and President of the GCCI Clinton Urling reveal the cover of the fourth edition of the investment magazine at Tuesday launch.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Editor of Business Guyana and President of the GCCI Clinton Urling reveal the cover of the fourth edition of the investment magazine at Tuesday launch.

Urling said the content represented the new feel of the magazine, which has fewer but higher quality photographs, a new layout and new contributors. “The end result is a more streamlined, premium and classy publication that stands out from the almost monotone and identical style that is used for other magazines that are currently on the market,” Urling told the various stakeholders at the magazine’s launch, which was hosted at Pegasus Hotel. “We have moved our product and our magazine from a CRV to a Ferrari,” he added.

The GCCI president stated how pleased he was with the writing and the various contributors, while observing that Business Guyana found it “very easy to find top notch writers” locally.

The magazine was first created to spotlight Guyana’s various sectors that are open for investment and development. He said that the 5,000 published copies of the magazine were distributed internationally through embassies and foreign missions and the exposure allowed for large companies to gravitate to Guyana with investment potential. He said that large companies brought with them more technological innovation and were also willing to develop infrastructure to build on their intended investments. Seeing the success of and the interest in the 2013 edition, Urling said, the GCCI will be looking to expand the scope of the magazine in further editions.

The aim, he noted, is to reach newer markets and to encourage both foreign and local private investment.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s Ambassador to Guyana Francisco Olguin, who was the guest speaker at the launch, stated that “the role of the private sector must combine a vision of business and an ethical commitment and social responsibility.” He added that “government is responsible for the rule of law… most importantly the responsibility of government begins with itself by eradicating corruption because it has to set an example for all sectors in society.”

According to Olguin, a magazine such as Business Guyana has the ability to complement the private sector and government partnership. He said that while government did its part to create the infrastructure desirable for investment, businesspersons had to be bold and creative while seeking new markets.

Olguin praised competition and noted that it was government that has to be a facilitator in the business climate. He said that in the case of Mexico, business persons “tended to be always afraid of competition but when they are faced with it, they succeed under protection. They always were believing that the minimum introduction of tariffs would make them go bankrupt, there would be high unemployment, social unrest would unravel….” He noted that this ideal had to be realized across the developing world and Mexico has showcased that progress was possible, with greater investment and laws put in place to encourage business development.

Olguin noted that Mexico has maintained its macroeconomic stability for years and has become the eleventh largest economy in the world. He praised Guyana’s achievements and noted that he was personally looking forward to more Guyanese products being made available in the Mexican market. Olguin encouraged a greater Mexico-Guyana trade relationship, while noting that the two countries have 40 years of diplomatic relations.