Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin is of the view that incentives offered to investors in Guyana, should be reviewed at least annually.
The minister was responding to questions posed by journalists when he appeared at the Alliance for Change (AFC) bi- weekly press conference on Friday.
Questions were posed about the amount of investors who have so far taken an interest in doing business in Guyana, since the coalition government came into office sixteen months ago. Minister Gaskin while not going into details, said that there have been a number of proposals in almost every sector, however, none have come through.
When questioned about government’s real plan on incentives for investors bringing their businesses here, especially in light of recent pronouncements my Finance Minister Winston Jordan that those incentives would be reduced, Minister Gaskins said it was his opinion that the incentives should be reviewed.
“I think there should be annual reviews of the concessions and incentives for investors have to be reviewed yearly”, he told the journalists.
He said prior to this government coming into office; there was no real mechanism in place for measuring the impact of incentives. He said government is now attempting to do that, so that an idea can be had about the amount of incentives that are given out for a specific period, also, the amount of jobs created and taxes received.
He said the issue with investors is that it is arguably that incentives are the only factor that attracts them.
“Investors look for profits and they look for predictability, certainty and stability. And what investors want to see is the fair application of whatever the incentives will be, so it must be across-the-board”.
According to Gaskin, Guyana’s laws do not provide for discrimination between local and foreign investors. What is more important than incentives, however, is how that regime is applied and whether or not it is applied across-the-board, whether it is enshrined in the laws and becomes an entitlement and not a discretionary incentive.
Asked if any major investors have taken interest in Guyana, since the coalition government took office, the Business Minister stated that the process takes time, as a large investor would not show up today and start doing business tomorrow.
“Since we have been in Government we have had numerous inquiries, approaches and proposals,” he added, pointing to several areas including energy, agroprocessing, mining and manufacturing, among a number of other proposals.
In May, President David Granger had stated that the Government was moving to reduce concessions to foreign investors in order to create a level playing field for local investors.
“We want to ensure that foreigners are not given concessions, waivers and rebates, to which other people are not entitled. In fact, we want to reduce the amount of these concessions so that we become more competitive,” he stated.
The President had said he was concerned that businesses would become too reliant on concessions and not do enough to develop their enterprises and resources.
Recently too, Minister of Finance Winston Jordon said these incentives for international investors will have to be cut.
