Business

Traipse through history of the evolution of cheese, with detours through several indigenous varieties of this much-loved dairy product and you are likely to find that a stunning range of difference of opinion surrounds the origins of Paneer.

These are not the best of times for market vendors. The overwhelming majority of them are women, many are single parents with young children, their attendant responsibilities extending way beyond plying their demanding trade in municipal markets across the country.

The Geneva-based International Labour Organization (ILO) is reporting that delegates from 181 countries representing governments, workers, and employers, at the International Labour Conference (ILC) have unanimously adopted a Global Call to Action for a human-centred COVID-19 recovery that prioritises the creation of decent jobs for all and addresses the inequalities caused by the crisis in a manner that is “fully inclusive, sustainable and resilient.”

DOHA: A consortium including Qatar Petroleum has been awarded two offshore blocks in Suriname, under Production Sharing Contracts as part of the recent Suriname offshore bid round.

By Brooke Glasford In recent research on startup businesses, I realized that so many are being started by young professionals —  dentists, doctors, attorneys, aeronautical engineers.

The Trinidad Guardian reported on Monday this week that “thousands of businesses facing hardship” have had no option but to “permanently close their doors” on account of decisions by commercial banks not to provide them with extensions of loans.

Despite a “virtual standstill in tourism” resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and the constraints that it has placed on travel, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is reporting that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state, Barbados, has made “good progress in implementing its Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan to restore fiscal and debt sustainability, rebuild reserves, and increase growth.”

The Italian multinational oilfield services company Saipem S.p.A, says it is moving forward with the establishment of a new offshore construction facility in Guyana in pursuit of the country’s efforts to create the infrastructure necessary to facilitate the country’s oil recovery pursuits.

By Deodat Maharaj  As we in the Caribbean seek to fast-track recovery and build a post Covid-19 world where business plays a leadership role in creating much needed jobs, access to finance remains a major constraint.

Badly in need of financial and other forms of support to stabilise their substantively weak medium and small enterprises (MSE’s), as well as to support the arduous post-Covid-19 process, business owners will benefit from the intervention of a triumvirate comprising two regional development support institutions, the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) along with the European Union (EU) to provide them with financial assistance to help retool and preserve jobs that have been threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kitco Market Data Gold Prices for the three day period ending Thursday June 24, 2021

A cursory glance at the Stabroek Business’ editorial focus over the past year or so will reveal that much of our reporting has targeted the issue of the fate of small and micro businesses in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 920’s trading results showed consideration of $57,632,338 from 719,635 shares traded in 14 transactions as compared to session 919’s trading results which showed consideration of $44,059,271 from 536,717 shares traded in 38 transactions.

Not widely known among Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries as a regional tourism haven Guyana, through its local Tourism Authority, has been seeking to position itself to draw greater international attention to what it has to offer once the menace of the Covid-19 pandemic recedes completely into the background.

What is being reported as a marked across-the-board rise in food prices in Guyana over the past several weeks is being proffered by international news sources as a microcosm of a wider problem as CNN, earlier this month used the United Nations Food Price Index to report a nearly 40% year over year food price increase with last month reflecting the sharpest monthly rise in average food prices in more than a year.

Last week’s announcement by the Chief Executive Officer of the Russian-owned aluminum producer RUSAL, Evgenii Nikitin that the company plans to pump US$5.2 billion into the upgrading of its bauxite plants in the Caribbean will be met with mixed reactions here in Guyana where the company has a 90% share in the Berbice-based Aroaima Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI),  the other 10% of the shares being owned by the Government of Guyana. 

The increased global intensity of the climate change lobby to reduce the recovery and use of fossil fuels will not be sufficient to restrain global oil demand which the International Energy Agency (IEA) says will recover to pre-pandemic levels late in 2023.

Weeks of sudden, sustained seasonal downpours commonly referred to as the ‘May/June’ rains continued for much of this week across the country, making clearer with each passing day the extent of the havoc that has been wrought on the agricultural sector and some of those who must depend on the sector for their livelihoods and their nourishment.