Business

Notes 1 – Interim results 2 – Prospective EPS: earnings per share for 12 months period to the date the latest financials have been prepared.

Guyana’s tourism sector must move towards a more “holistic orientation” in 2008 if there is to be any significant qualitative improvement in the country’s tourism product, according to Executive Director of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) Maureen Paul.

The amount of money owing to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) in employee contributions has now exceeded the $500M mark and a senior NIS official has told Stabroek Business that the Scheme is making “little headway’ in collecting the amounts due to it through the Magistrate’s Courts.

Traditional ‘late shopping’ took on a new dimension this Christmas as hundreds of urban shoppers poured into the city on Christmas Day to conclude what the business community says was, up until Christmas Eve day, a lacklustre commercial season.

The Main Big Lime has now established itself as a kind of seasonal institution – an integral part of the Christmas calendar.

One of the notable features of the private sector during 2007 was its virtual silence on issues concerning the business sector and the economy as a whole.

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is implementing the manifest module of TRIPS as part of its continued effort to improve clearance times for goods imported while ensuring transparency.

A city businessman has told Stabroek Business that what was offered at this year’s Boxing Day Main Big Lime was “less than what might have been expected” given the tremendous public support which the event received.

Notes 1 – Interim results 2 – Prospective EPS: earnings per share for 12 months period to the date the latest financials have been prepared.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone N

Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir, in his feature address at the graduation exercise held for youths at the Essequibo Technical Institute, encouraged the private sector “to join hands and provide a better pay package so that Guyana can retain youths that have been trained.”

A city businessman has told Stabroek Business that the rise in the practices of smuggling and money laundering in the commercial sector is making it increasingly difficult for legitimate businesses in the country’s wholesale and retail sectors to survive.

One year after the City Mall opened its doors to shoppers, the facility is being hailed by businesses and consumers alike as a landmark development in the local commercial culture that has done as much for comfort and convenience as it has for commerce in the capital.

Five recent incidents of theft of cable from Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) ‘land line’ installations in sections of the city would appear to signal the return of the ‘bad old days’ of 2006 when persistent theft of the company’s copper-based cable sparked tough official measures against the country’s scrap metal industry.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) formally approved US$6M for the Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Development Project (READ) for Guyana at a meeting at its headquarters in Italy last Thursday.

The concerns expressed by the mining community about the future of the industry in an “environmental era” reflect the extent to which issues pertaining to the environment have moved closer to the top of the national and global agendas.

The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) is testing 15 varieties of lesser-used wood species to identify the criteria for their processing and marketing to reduce stakeholders’ demand for the popular ones.

An Official of the Government Food and Drug Analyst Department has told Stabroek Business that the department has no intention of moving in the direction of issuing a ban order on several imported energy drinks which it says are potentially injurious to human health.

The loss of skilled workers is a key reason why some businesses are scaling back, according to the 2008 Guyana Business Outlook Survey by Ram & McRae Chartered Accountants.

Notes 1 – Interim results 2 – Prospective EPS: earnings per share for 12 months period to the date the latest financials have been prepared.