Against the backdrop of what continues to be a less than convivial relationship between central government and the private sector, President of the manufacturers association Shyam Nokta used his Wednesday March 28th address to its Annual General Meeting to signal that concerns over lingering and serious impediments to the growth of the manufacturing sector notwithstanding, the GMSA was prepared to work with government to create an environment in which manufacturing can improve its contribution to both job-creation and exports.
From the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association’s (GMSA’s) perspective, there remains a slew of barriers to local manufacturing, not least, Nokta told the AGM, ”tax measures, access to finance, market access and trade facilitation, procurement and high cost and unstable energy supply.” And while, amongst these, cheaper and more reliable electricity is likely to prove the most difficult mountain to climb, Nokta signaled that the GMSA is prepared to bring an end to what, over several years, has been a vacuous and often acrimonious discourse over the problems, by acknowledging the need “to engage with government and to do so through a strategic approach.”
Hence, since April last year, Nokta, said in his address, “the GMSA has had several engagements with government, principal among them through the Ministerial Roundtable with the Minister and Finance and team (that includes at least three other Cabinet-level Ministers) and which adopted a sector by sector focus with the first sector being Forestry and Woodworking. In April, the second roundtable will convene, with a focus on agro-processing.”
