Minister of Business hears concerns of Business Community in Kwakwani

Minister Dominic Gaskin and a team comprising personnel from the Ministry of Business and the Small Business Bureau conducted an outreach exercise in areas of Region 10, Sub-District 2 from Friday July 1 to Sunday July 3.

During the visit, the Minister met with the Kwakwani Neighbourhood Democratic Council(KNDC) and the Kwakwani Business community. The Minister also visited Ladernsville, a community of between 600- 800 residents approximately 15 miles north of Kwakwani on the Berbice River.

Minister Dominic Gaskin(second right, facing) speaking to the Councilors of the KNDC

Concerns raised by the Kwakwani business community included: the state of the Linden to Kwakwani road; the state of the logging industry; the lack of business registration and licensing services in the Sub-District; and access to finance and banking services.
The message of the Minister was that Government is committed to the development of all of Guyana, hence the number of outreach activities by various Ministers of Government to hear the concerns and better understand the development priorities of communities. He further stressed that Government was interested in sustainable long-term economic development driven by private enterprise.

The Minister also stressed the need for diversification into value-added productivity in order to increase economic benefits to the community and reduce dependence on primary products. He reiterated that increasing value-added productivity is a priority of the current administration when it comes to business.

Representative of the Small Business Bureau, Ms. Tracy Alves-Innis, used the opportunity to better explain the work of the Bureau to individuals attending the various meetings. In particular, it was made clear that opportunities for training and support are available to businesses in Sub-District 2.