“Doing Business 2014”, an annual World Bank Publication, shows that out of 189 countries surveyed, Guyana ranks 115th.. In his Budget Speech, the Minister referred to the “Guyana’s Doing Business Action Plan.” Focus applauds the Government and the Minister for having taken the ‘bull by the horns’ to create an easier process of transacting business in Guyana.
The Minister also alluded to one area of improvement which was already in play – the establishment of the Credit Bureau in Guyana in 2013 designed to facilitate faster decisions by lending institutions and goes on to discuss specific areas to be addressed using the survey results as a marker.
While we applaud the Minister for paying close attention to the World Bank publication, we would like to draw attention to other indices, equally widely circulated, some of which portray Guyana in a less than favourable light. Indeed, to many investors and consultants, those indices may be their first portal to the country, creating that proverbial first impression.
The following table shows the Guyana’s score and ranking on a selected set of popular indices:
* Countries with lower scores are regarded as more free.
The landscape created by these indices requires that concerted and systematic efforts be made to improve the country’s ratings. Regardless of the Government’s opinion on Transparency International and the methodology used in compiling the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), we cannot afford to ignore the results. It is not without significance that the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Attitudinal Survey 2014 produced results not unlike the CPI. Guyana must therefore seek to improve its rating on each and every one of these indices instead of constantly attacking the results. The opportunities for improvement exist and can be excellent advertisement for the country.
Each Index serves a different purpose. But Doing Business and TI’s Corruption Perception Index are undoubtedly the two most significant for investors. Good scores may reduce the cost of capital and enhance our national competitiveness. For sure, enhancement has no downside.
We believe that there is a relationship between these two indices as we believe that corruption fuels many of the problems which lead to a low Doing Business Score. Take the public servant who collects an extra $1,000 to process a document faster – does the Minister believe that the processing time could be improved without addressing the factors that drive corruption? Or does he realize that processes are deliberately slowed to ensure that only those paying up would get good service. We therefore believe that a focus on the Doing Business Index in isolation will therefore not bring about the desired results.
The Human Development Index produced by the United Nations shows Guyana climbing the ranking to 118, one spot over the previous year of 119 (the ranking fell from 104 to 119 in 2012 due to the addition of net participating countries). With significant investments in Education and Health Care, the country’s ranking ought to be better. .
Finally, it must not be turned into an irony that the country’s strongest showing lies in its level of freedom of the press, which from time to time incurs the wrath of the politicians. We believe that Guyana should rank higher on each and every one of these indices and call on the Minister to commit resources to ensure that all factors affecting our ranking are addressed.
We could begin with the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission and the Integrity Commission and strengthen the capabilities of the Police to carry out fraud investigations.
