Business

Greater and Easier Access About six months ago, the first bridge linking Brazil and Guyana was officially opened across the Takutu River. 

Beginning in May The Arthur Lok Jack School of Business will launch its In-Company Executive MBA Programme in Guyana.

Contraband cigarettes, counterfeit tobacco hurting profitability -Chintamani The operations of the Demerara Tobacco Company in Guyana last year netted  government revenues totalling more than $2.7  billion according to the company’s recently released annual report.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (BGIS) — Reliance on chemicals and pesticides could soon be a thing of the past if organic farming in Barbados continues to make its way into mainstream agriculture.

Chairman of the Agriculture Committee of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and veteran local rice farmer Beni Sankar has told Stabroek Business that a good rice yield is still possible despite the protracted period of dry weather resulting from the current El Nino weather phenomenon.

Says farmers will be unable to afford insurance premiums Veteran rice farmer Beni Sankar has told Stabroek Business that he supports the creation of a risk-protection fund for   farmers rather than the pursuit of risk insurance for the agricultural sector.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, – With a planned strike by British Airways (BA) just two days away, the airline has sought to give the assurance that contingency plans have been put in place to prevent disruption in travel to the Caribbean.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 347’s trading results showed consideration of $3,109,381 from 101,222 shares traded in 13 transactions as compared to session 346 which showed consideration of $1,505,367 from 78,450 shares traded in 8 transactions.

– unveils elaborate US$8M renovation plan Any thought that the Pegasus Hotel might be tempted to follow the Princess International into the gaming industry was effectively killed off by the Chief Executive Officer of 40-year old flagship property earlier this week when he told Stabroek Business that no casino will be established there under his watch.

Mining sector ponders alternative methods of gold recovery Even as the international community prepares to make decisive moves to reduce the production and global sales of mercury, the local mining sector, particularly the large numbers of small-scale miners, is pondering the challenge of finding alternatives to what has traditionally been the ‘approved’ method of alloying the precious metal.

Business Editorial Perhaps much later than ought to have been the case the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strauss-Khan set out what he describes as “a vision that responds to the challenges our 186 member countries are facing in the post-crisis era” in a paper delivered exactly two weeks ago to the Annual Meeting of the Bretton Woods Committee in Washington.

Rawle Lucas is a Guyanese-born Certified Public Accountant and Assistant Vice-President of the Lending Services Division.

By Jacquelyn Hamer The emergence of the SME Caribbean Toolkit which, according to Republic Bank’s full page advertisement in the local newspapers can be used “to start, strengthen or expand” existing businesses provides the most recent indication that local commercial banks are beginning to pay more serious attention to the needs of growing businesses.

-Wall Street Journal/Heritage Foundation report says inefficient financial systems compromising private sector growth The Wall Street Journal/Heritage Foundation 2010 Index of Economic Freedom in Guyana has said that the country’s financial system is plagued by inefficiency and a poor institutional framework that continues to compromise the growth of the business community.

A recently released study on tax regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean has cautioned that special tax regimes instituted by some countries to ensure the viability of small and micro businesses can have harmful long-term effects on productivity in those countries.

– passage of new laws expected this year Commercial banks and other local lending agencies are eagerly anticipating the passage in the National Assembly later this year of a Credit Reporting Bill that will create a quick reference rating for potential borrowers.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 346’s trading results showed consideration of $1,505,367 from 78,450 shares traded in 8 transactions as compared to session 345 which showed consideration of $5,686,129 from 485,234 shares traded in 19 transactions. 

(Prepared by the Guyana marketing Corporation and published by Stabroek News Business as a public service)

A high-powered team of academics and administrators from the Arthur Loc Jack Graduate School of Business of the University of the West Indies visited Guyana earlier this week to finalize plans for the launch here of the Graduate School’s Executive Masters in Business Administration.