Public/private sector dialogue and the economy

Several months after we raised the issue of the seemingly long-postponed public/private sector ‘summit’ there has been no definitive word from either side as to whether or when the two will meet though the former chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Major General (ret’d) Norman McLean did say in a letter to this newspaper that the meeting will take place. On might add, however, that that was several months ago and that the then chairman of the PSC did not say when.

We have grown accustomed to these encounters which usually take the form of presentations on the various sectors followed by assessments of the state of health of those sectors, decisions of one sort or another as to how prevailing problems should be dealt with and some sort of over-arching concluding joint pronouncement intended, presumably, to provide some indication as to just where we are in terms of relations between the state and the private sector.

It has to be said, however, that as far as this newspaper knows, the outcomes of these engagements have not, in the past, been used as a significant rudder with which to chart a course for the economy. In fact, we recall nothing ever being made public arising out of the last ‘summit’ under the previous administration.

One assumes, of course, that we still embrace as an axiom the principle of a public/private sector partnership as far as the country’s economy is concerned with the government responsible for shaping the policies that drive economic activity and the private sector responsible for the pursuit of substantive economic activity.

Upon entering office last year the APNU+AFC administration sought, it seemed, to send a clear signal that it intended to heavily support a private sector-led economy by creating a Business portfolio under a Cabinet minister. Additionally, its spread of ministries seemed to suggest the attention would be paid to information technology and tourism among other issues that have to do with the country’s economic advancement.

Information technology, particularly, appears to have been on the official agenda and the recent reconfiguration of ministries which now places telecommunications under a separate portfolio would appear to point to an intention to place telecoms liberalization on the front burner.

There are other public/private sector agenda issues that ought to be on the front burner including re-setting value added tax rates, creating a more stable customs-related regime for the clearance of goods entering the country, duties on imported raw materials and the implications for the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, urban vending, the security of the country’s sea and airports, creating an expanded market for locally produced goods abroad  and investing more in the consolidation of the mining industry.

These, of course, are only part of the agenda but they are critical issues so it is essential that we get some sort of guidance as to where the public and private sectors, respectively, stand on these issues.

There is also the question of levels of local and overseas investment in the country and whether government’s efforts in this regard are being matched by a corresponding private sector effort. The decision by the Granger administration to retain the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) points to a policy position on creating a convivial environment for investors though one has to say that as far as that investment climate is concerned the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

With the government seemingly on the threshold of overseeing the liberalization of the telecommunications sector, there will, one expects, be a host of opportunities for investment in IT-related sectors, a circumstance that paves the way for significant expansion of the services sector and for job-creation. That will require exchanges between the public and private sectors in areas that include regulations-setting and the creation of new sectors.

On the whole and despite evidence of cordial conversations between government and the private sector at the level of the minister, the Ministry of Business and the business support organizations, there is still far too little to go on when we seek to arrive at a reliable assessment of the timbre of relations between the government and the private sector. Clarity on this issue is desirable for more reasons than one and the staging of the long-promised summit followed by a clear public pronouncement on its outcomes is important at this time.