1st year in office- Minister Gaskin gives APNU+AFC coalition Gov’t good rating

Georgetown, GINA, May 11, 2016

Business Minister Dominic Gaskin has described the first year for the APNU+AFC coalition government as a good one. He stated that investors are regaining confidence in Guyana.

In an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), Minister Gaskin said that it has been a good year, but added that the work has just begun. “We are a government that has been elected for a five-year term, and it will indeed take us five years to significantly improve what we have inherited.’

It is against this background that the Ministry of Business has set out its commitment towards improving the “ease of doing business” in Guyana and is currently in the final stages of developing the ministry’s five – year strategic plan.

“We have been placing a lot of emphasis on improving the ease of doing business in Guyana. As most people, especially business people will know, we have not done very well on the Global ease of doing business index over the years,” Gaskin said.

The Minister pointed out that the Ministry has recently received aid from a World Bank team in identifying multi-sectoral issues that affect Guyana’s ranking on the “Ease of doing Business” index.

In addition to this, the ministry has received Cabinet’s approval for the implementation of a single windows automated processing system (SWAPS). This is a trade facilitation programme where companies can transact business with Government agencies through a single electronic window. It allows a submission to be automatically processed by a number of different agencies.

Minister Gaskin noted that all of the sub- agencies and boards under the Ministry of Business have benefited from improved leadership and changes, and there is improved performance from these agencies.