Business

The Guyana Police Consumers Cooperative Society says it expects to exceed its 2006 sales turnover of $11m this year.

Several major projects by the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) are planned for implementation during next year, some of which are part of Phase II of the MMA scheme, said General Manager of the MMA/ADA Aubrey Charles, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported .

The Demerara Bank Limited achieved a profit of $560 million after tax for the year ended September 30, 2007 compared to $283 million in the preceding year, an increase of 98%.

As the end of the sixth year without an investor draws to a close, the 6,000 to 7,000 depositors of Globe Trust and Investment Company Limited (GTICL) will yet again have to wonder if and when the court ordered restructuring of the entity will be completed.

The disclosure by the Government Analyst Food and Drugs Department that retailers are mixing flour with powdered milk and offering the mixture for sale as pure powdered milk is one of those shameful and infuriating manifestations of a thoroughly corrupt commercial culture that has long been an occupational hazard of shopping in Guyana.

Two local private sector businessmen have joined the debate on crime, security and the economy sparked by public comments made by former Guyana Defence Force Commander Brigadier (retd) David Granger and Cabinet Secretary Dr.

The “elaborate telecommunications” buildout undertaken by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) since the signing in 1991 of an agreement with the Government of Guyana and Atlantic Tele Network (ATN) has completely revolutionized several critical sectors of the Guyanese economy and improved the quality of life in Guyana as a whole, according to the company’s Deputy General Manager, Public Communications, Terry Holder.

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) is moving to put new measures in place in an effort to reduce the number of land-line telephone services being surrendered by low-income persons who find it difficult to afford retention of the service, according to the Company’s Director of Consumer Affairs, Pamela Briggs.

Guyana ranks 141 in shipping and logistics out of 150 countries surveyed in a World Bank study which shows that being competitive means having the capabilities to connect to international markets to ship goods.

Consumer complaints that unpackaged powdered milk being offered for sale to consumers in shops and markets is being ‘mixed’ with flour to ‘push up’ the profit margins of shopkeepers and vendors have led to calls from the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department for the milk to be “bagged and labelled” before being sold to consumers.

Stabroek Friday Business supplement is the only such publication in Guyana.

Which place in Guyana do you enjoy doing business with, because it offers you the service that you, as a customer, expect and which you would like to see publicly recognized and honoured for its commitment to customer service?

The edifice of the commercial banking system is built around an efficient and effective payments system.

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

The IMF’s 2007 Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere says the erosion of European Union (EU) trade preferences will cause Guyana to have a cumulative output decline of up to 6.5% by 2010 as the preferential sugar trade is phased out.

Stabroek Business has learnt that government has notified the Guyana Scrap Metal Dealers Association (GSMDA) of a decision to re-open the trade in ferrous metals immediately.

Earlier this week the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce issued a press statement in which it expressed its concern over the likelihood that businessmen travelling through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport could become enmeshed in set ups associated with what the release suggests is now the prevalent practice of placing illicit drugs and other illegal items in the baggage of innocent passengers.

Executive Director of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) Maureen Paul believes that Guyana’s hosting of next year’s Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) provides the tourist industry with an important opportunity to promote the local tourist industry through the Heritage Tours that allow visitors to experience first hand the cultural diversity of the country.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone N

The ability of local nature resorts to secure potentially lucrative agreements with overseas tour operators that could both boost their earnings and increase the number of visitors to Guyana is being hampered by the reluctance of the insurance industry to grant adequate insurance cover to the resorts, according to information reaching Stabroek Business.