President of the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA) Ramsay Ali has told the Stabroek Business that a meeting agreed to between himself and two senior government officials, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, to discuss aspects of government support for the small business sector, should materialize in “about two weeks’ time.” While the stated purpose of the meeting will be to discuss a relationship between the GMSA and the state-run Small Business Bureau (SBB), it is likely that the engagement could shape a broader agenda that could see the private sector umbrella body influencing operational changes in the SBB in order to better facilitate the wishes of local small businesses seeking various forms of assistance from the state-run body.
In its Friday August 11 issue the Stabroek Business had reported that Ali had used his August 3 presentation to the GMSA’s Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony to disclose that he had been in receipt of “positive responses” to his request for a ‘sit down’ with government on a number of issues, including ways in which the GMSA can bring its practical experience in the business sector to bear in possibly helping the SBB to become increasingly responsive to the needs of the small business community. At the time the GMSA President made no disclosures on either a specific agenda or a timeline for the sought after meeting. Ali’s response earlier this week to this newspaper’s inquiry with regard to progress being made in the matter of the proposed meeting between himself and government officials to discuss a role for the GMSA in shaping its interaction with the small business community, was confined to indicating that such a meeting was likely to take place “in two weeks’ time.“
While Mr. Ali went no further, his disclosure that such a meeting will take place, after all, raises hopes that the government may now be prepared to embrace the support of the private sector in some of the operational aspects of the running of state-controlled agencies responsible for providing various forms of support to small businesses. The idea of talks between a high-profile private sector body and two senior government officials likely points to a preparedness on the part of the political administration to relax the state-crafted regulations and procedures that govern the operations of government-funded institutions set up to support the growth of the small business community. Whether or not the meeting will result in serious procedural changes to the relationship between the SBB and small businesses seeking the Bureau’s support is unclear, though the forthcoming meeting between the two senior government officials and the GMSA President could witness operational adjustments to the modus operandi of the SBB.
Assuming that the forthcoming meeting agrees on adjustments to the operating rules of the SBB that can hasten the processes associated with providing support for small business growth, both the government as well as the GMSA are likely to win plaudits from a small business sector that has continually criticized what they see as the tedious procedures associated with engaging state agencies. Ali has also hinted that the GMSA would also be prepared to support the SBB in pursuit of its efforts to properly understand the country’s small business culture, including the critical role that the Bureau has to play in strengthening the small business sector. It is expected that any GMSA operating inputs in the running of the Small Business Bureau will win the approval of the small business community, particularly if such interventions have to do with, among other things, putting in place measures that will serve to expedite requests from small business owners for the various types of support provided by the agency.
Expectations of increased financial and other forms of support for micro and small businesses from the state in the light of the country’s significantly increased earnings from the oil and gas sector have served to fuel demands that the procedures associated with providing that support be accelerated.
