Gov’t committed to trade facilitation

– Foreign Secretary tells trade talk forum

Foreign Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr. Robert Persaud says the PPP/C Administration remains supportive of the improvement of Guyana’s mechanism to facilitate trade.

Mr. Persaud made this statement on Thursday in his address to key stakeholders of the Private Sector Commission and the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, during the Ministry’s fourth virtual ‘trade talk’ series.

The Foreign Secretary says the Government, “remains supportive of all efforts to enhance Guyana’s trade facilitation regime including, through increased awareness, increased investments in electronic systems that would expedite trade transactions, and measures that would allow for more effective compliance with standards and technical regulations.

Work is underway through the National Trade Facilitation Committee [NTFC] to facilitate implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and to therefore address many of the areas.”

He said such efforts by the NTFC would enhance the delivery of services by public sector agencies and therefore, lead to the “efficiency and competitiveness of businesses and would make Guyana a more attractive place for doing business and conducting trade.”

The Foreign Secretary maintained that such an arrangement would play a critical role in the nation’s economic expansion that is set to experience significant growth. He said the nation must continue with its trade mechanism, which involves the enhancement of the regulatory framework for both imports and exports.

In January, the Foreign Secretary said the Administration is addressing accessing markets within the Caribbean to support agriculture, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and other sectors.

At that time, Mr. Persaud said, “we are looking at a vast array of measures, including involving the CARICOM Secretariat on how it is we can rapidly alleviate this perennial, ongoing issue in terms of non-tariff barriers within the Region for now, as we want this to be addressed and addressed very urgently.” Representatives from Ministries and Government agencies also made presentations at the trade talk which focused on trade facilitation matters surrounding customs rules and regulations, standards, product certification, conformity assessment and tariff and charges.