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…save for El Dorado rumNo product of Guyanese origin is a household name in Caricom, save and except El Dorado rum.Finance Minister,Rob Gronkowski Patriots Jersey, Winston JordanThis sobering truth was put before members of the manufacturing community on Wednesday night by Finance Minister, Winston Jordan.The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) held its grand dinner event which saw Jordan delivering the feature address. While he commended the efforts and strides being made thus far in the sector, he made it clear that much more can, and needs to be done.The Finance Minister said, “I cringe at the state of manufacturing in our country.”“Too many of our private sector players seem content to chase after the quick dollar by importing a lot of cheap products to be sold in a low-wage economy. Some of the things are of such poor quality and low standard that I marvel that they could find a market in Guyana.”“If Barbados can sell us sugar cake, Trinidad can sell us fried channa in plastic bottles, assorted tamarind balls and fudge in boxes; if we can import matches from as far away as Czech Republic and Poland or plantain and cassava chips from Central America,Reggie White Packers Jersey, why can’t we manufacture these basic products,Tevin Coleman Falcons Jersey, where we have all the ingredients grown locally and sell to our neighbours?,” inquired the Minister.Jordan said that it is a crying shame that Caribbean Airlines serves plantain chips made in Central America and serves coffee or tea sweetened by sugar that doesn’t carry the sweet Demerara Gold label.He also hammered home the stark reality that Guyana has no multinational or mainstream international companies. Jordan said, too, that Guyana has exporters and resellers as well as a few manufacturers and even fewer who actually export to CARICOM and further afield.The Minister said that a sober analysis of the Private Sector would reveal several characteristics. He noted in this regard that the Private Sector is technologically unsophisticated having never gone through an industrial revolution. “Our infrastructure, technology, marketing sophistication, global competitiveness and industrialization stage confirm this,Brett Favre Packers Jersey,” said the Minister.“The Private Sector, for the most part, has been inward-looking in its orientation; a paradox in itself given that the domestic market is small while Guyana enjoys tremendous comparative advantages in many areas and has several bilateral and multilateral trade and economic agreements.”Jordan said that Guyana has a significant underground economy that undermines the real economy and distorts the competitive forces in the economy.He said that the existing Private Sector with its access to capital and its many domestic and international networks must include the “historically excluded” in its business planning.The Minister said that contract farming is a model of inclusiveness. Sub-contracting is another successful global model.“I challenge the Private Sector in general, and the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association in particular, to take the leadership role in nurturing and promoting more broad-based and inclusive growth.”Given this state of affairs in the sector Jordan said that manufacturing in Guyana must become a key driver of rapid economic growth, and the associated creation of employment, both directly and indirectly.Jordan said that there is considerable accumulated evidence that manufacturing still functions as the heart of the economic development process.Jordan said that to transcend the dominant and traditional revenue earners, “we must manufacture. We must add value.”The Minister said, “I reflect on the 1970s and 1980s – periods in our history that were characterized by economic crises that led to banning and restrictions of many items. And I recall the inventions, innovations and the sheer will to survive that those crises called forth.”“In those trying times,Sean Davis Steelers Jersey, more goods were manufactured, canned or assembled domestically: vehicles, bicycles, refrigerators, freezers, radio, matches, tooth paste,Steve Grogan Patriots Jersey, etc. In the agriculture sector, we had canned pineapple and orange juice, smoked and other forms of ham, salted fish, and so forth.“Even in the 1980s, an enterprising Frenchman took heart of palm, canned it in a place not known for its electricity, and exported the finished product to French Guiana and France.”Jordan said that leadership is also needed innovation and in the area of technology adoption.He said that those in the manufacturing sector must use technology and innovation to become globally competitive. He said that the “old” Private Sector must lead in the effort to adopt new technologies and to be more innovative.Jordan said mechanisms have been put in place to ease the tax burdens in this sector as he established a Tax Reform Committee to examine all aspects of the tax system. He said that this Committee has engaged and received inputs from many stakeholders, inclusive of the private sector.He said that to address the ease of doing business in Guyana,Mel Blount Steelers Jersey, the Ministry of Business was created. He noted that its business agenda is central to achieving inclusive growth and national unity.The Finance Minister said that the Ministry of Business has identified five goals, the achievement of which will ultimately lead to a more prosperous business community. These include; improve the ease of doing business in Guyana,Kevin Faulk Patriots Jersey, attract increased foreign investments in our economy,Morgan Burnett Packers Jersey, support the development and exports of value-added industries and increase the economic opportunities and capabilities of vulnerable groups.As for the Guyana Office of Investment (Go-Invest) Jordan said that the Office is being streamlined and strengthened so as to accelerate investment. He reminded that a new board of directors has been constituted; a new Head of the Agency has been advertised for; and international funding is being sought for a private sector development project.To further enable the business environment, he said that Government has been discussing the idea of a Development Bank to ensure our manufacturers, agro processors and service providers have access to capital to gain a competitive edge in the areas of our greatest comparative advantage, food security.In this context, he said that Government has just requested the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to commission a study to examine the demand for and the feasibility of establishing such a financial institution.Further, funding for small businesses is being provided through the Rural Development Fund and the Small and Micro-Enterprises Development Fund.He said that Government also recognizes that micro-enterprises can be promoted as a means of establishing economic independence for our youth.Jordan said that a recent Caribbean Development Bank study estimates youth unemployment at 40 percent, which indicates an urgent need to address this problem.“Our President is keenly interested in tackling youth unemployment, and one way of doing so is to encourage entrepreneurship among our young people.”