The APNU-AFC coalition administration on Monday used its maiden budget presentation in the National Assembly to signal its intention to place small business development on the front burner of the country’s economy.
It announced among other things its intention to set up a Small Business Development Centre to respond to the research and document preparation needs of the country’s small and medium-sized business enterprises as well as to jettison some of the criteria necessary for accessing the Micro and Small Enterprise Development (MSED) grant facility created by the previous administration under the 2004 Small Business Act.
Winston Jordan
The announcement that government intends to pay more focused attention to creating the physical infrastructure to accelerate small business development is likely to provide the private sector with a measure of encouragement though some small business operators have already alluded to the old adage that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The likelihood is that the planned Small Business Development Centre could be an expanded facility into which the existing Small Business Bureau set up by the previous government to administer grants under the US$5 million GRIF-funded MSED project is being administered.
Critics of the operation of the Small Business Bureau have pointed to the long delay in the MSED getting off the ground, a circumstance that had led to the Ministry of Business disclosing that the MSED project is certain to miss its first critical job-creation target.
In dropping a broad hint that the small business sector is pivotal to creating economic opportunities, combating unemployment and stimulating competitiveness the Finance Minister disclosed that numbered amongst government’s plans are the administering of a Credit Guarantee Scheme that will be facilitated through a number of measures including the effective administering of the Low Carbon Grant Scheme for micro and small businesses currently being managed by the Small Business Bureau.
Applicants for small business grants had also been complaining about what they say are the cumbersome procedures associated with accessing the grants while up until now the Bureau has provided little detailed information on the progress being made by the grant-funded MSED projects.
Another ground-breaking disclosure made by the Finance Minister in his budget presentation on Monday alluded to government’s intention that the Ministry of Business, through the Business Bureau, accelerate the provision in the Small Business Act for SME’s to be able to secure up to 20 per cent of contracts to supply goods and services to government.
Dominic Gaskin
Implicit in the small business-related measures announced in Monday’s budget presentation is a signal that the newly created Ministry of Business will play a critical role in the government’s development plans. That Ministry, which is headed by AFC ministerial nominee Dominic Gaskin will assume responsibility for the Small Business Development Centre. Gaskin has already been named Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) which has been removed from under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Presidency and which government has indicated will be a critical cornerstone in its efforts to attract overseas investment into the country.
The announced plans to expand access to state procurement contracts to allow for enhanced opportunities for MSED’s to bid for and secure such contracts comes on the heels of ongoing controversy over the allocation solely to the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation of multi-billion dollar contracts for the supply of drugs to the health sector with the attendant charges of unfair and improper practices.
A private sector source told this newspaper on Tuesday that while the creation of “a new opportunity” for small businesses to benefit from procurement contracts awarded by government is commendable “this does not remove the importance of contracts being awarded on merit nor does it obviate the need to avoid under-the-table deals that allow for state functionaries who might be able to influence the award of tenders to enrich themselves.”
In a budget presentation on the role of the business sector undergirded by what the administration says is its intention to eradicate red tape and combat corruption the government appears to have anointed its newly created Ministry of Business as the lead player in public/private sector relations. With Business Minister Dominic Gaskin already having been named as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) Jordan used his budget presentation on Monday to re-state the age-old official promise to make Go-Invest the single stop when registering a new business, a circumstance which he says is consistent with the enhanced investor-friendly environment which the political administration says it seeks to create.
According to the Finance Minister, the country’s Business Ministry is also being equipped with a computerized licensing section that increases the efficiency and timeliness in the processing of import and export licences. Additionally, according to Jordan, “a help desk for businesses will be set up” and will serve as a “single point of contact for information and tailored advice among businesses, traders and the Government – for example, implementing measures to reduce the time taken to get electricity and construction permits; encouraging greater and wider compliance with international standards; and making the entire institutional framework transparent, so as to reduce corruption and enhance overall efficiency.”
