Govt placing more emphasis on enforcing business regulations

More emphasis will be placed on ensuring that businesses operating in Guyana are complying with regulations, in an effort to ensure there is a level playing field for local and international businesses.

This was announced by General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, as he addressed growing concerns about the heightened number of Chinese businesses setting up shop in Guyana, forcing smaller businesses to cease their operations.

He said that one of the main concerns is that some Chinese businesses may be operating in Guyana without adhering to local regulations, potentially gaining an unfair advantage over smaller, locally-owned businesses.

“They put up a building that breaches the permits: no ventilation there, on the building. They will get a visit from the inspector, who says they need proper ventilation to sell pharmaceuticals, but next door there is a Chinese company selling pharmaceuticals that has no ventilation whatsoever. They are not applying the law uniformly,” the GS pointed out.

He explained that these concerns are valid, emphasising the government’s commitment to balancing the positive impact of Chinese investment with the protection of local businesses.

“We have made it clear to the regulatory bodies; you have to enforce the law uniformly. And we believe that sometimes people are induced not to do that. So, we are paying careful attention to this,” he said.

However, Dr Jagdeo reasoned that imposing nationality-based restrictions on business would be discriminatory, and would also invite foreign policy issues.

“If the idea is to stop people based on nationality it would be impossible to do it because what if China says we are not going to sell Guyana any of our goods anymore so you can’t import anything from China because you don’t want our people, based on nationality to sell in Guyana? You can’t do that and discriminate based on nationality, but you can ensure compliance based on the laws of the country,” the general secretary asserted.

Conversely, he acknowledged the positive contributions of Chinese businesses to the Guyanese economy and the improved quality of life for ordinary Guyanese through increased access to goods and services.