Gov’t partnering with private sector to improve business climate

The government will work assiduously with members of the private sector to ensure that women and youth play an integral role in developing Guyana’s business and investment climate.

President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali made the commitment while delivering the feature address at the 31st annual general meeting of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Tuesday afternoon.

Dr Ali told the private sector that much more needs to be done in order to involve women and youth in business and business leadership.

As such, the government will lead in the partnership to implement policies and programmes that will open up opportunities for women and youth to establish and operate their own businesses.

“You cannot be single-barrel. The opportunities are enormous. We have to ensure that young people are engaged in investment opportunities,” Dr Ali told the private sector representatives.

He outlined a number of government initiatives aimed at increasing the participation of these two groups in the country’s rapidly expanding economy, including the corn-and-soya integrated farm project in Region Nine, the construction of the national hospitality training centre in Port Mourant, and call centres being established across the country.

The head of state noted that these initiatives are all part of a wider initiative aimed especially at giving young people and mothers the chance to earn disposable income and bring families closer to prosperity.

The government has embarked on discussions with oil and gas partners to explore possibilities through which more Guyanese can become involved in the sector.

“We’re exploring different possibilities. In my view, we are coming closer to finding opportunities that can bring in a greater number of Guyanese shareholders being a part of, and feeling ownership of the sector,” he said.

President Ali also committed to continuing to partner with the private sector in order to address challenges facing its membership, and the country at large. These include issues of trade, currency and labour.

He stated that sourcing skilled labour remains an issue that will require government and private sector partnership, but assured that government will make the necessary interventions to sustain continued economic growth in the country.

Since entering office in 2020, the government has embarked on a slew of programmes aimed at upskilling and boosting the human resource capacity in Guyana.

These programmes cover a number of sectors, including engineering, education, healthcare, hospitality and others.