Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) President Vishnu Doerga says that given the last four years of slumping business, there is need for a shift from revenue dependence on local commodities to value adding.
“…this decline in business started three to four years ago and it coincided with the drop in commodity prices, especially in commodities like rice and sugar,” Doerga told a press conference on Tuesday.
“Unless we start treating our rice and sugar like one of these commodities that we want to get more value out of and taking serious actions to making it that way, that is going into more of the packaging, more of the branding, looking at our location our region as a source (as a) competitive advantage, where we can charge more and earn more, we will continue …being at the mercy of global prices,” he added.
He pointed to gold, which he said has been on the rebound but noted that unlike rice and sugar the revenues from that sector “doesn’t circulate as much in the economy”.
