Implementation of standards can propel ‘Made in Guyana’ brand

Commerce Minister, Manniram Prashad says in order for the local economy to flourish, businesses within the private sector must not from year to year remain stagnant, but must grow to their full capacity with a vision of taking products manufactured here into the international markets.

He said, too, that the implementation of standards could propel the ‘Made in Guyana brand’. This he said, is the path taken by major developing countries like China and India that have allowed them to climb to the top of the ladder of prosperous countries.

Prashad made these statements in his message to mark World Standards Day being observed today around the globe.

The minister said local businesses, whether small, medium or large, no longer have to push their hand deep into their pockets to contract foreign consultants to work with them to develop their quality systems and implement national or international standards.

“The government of Guyana through the support for competitiveness programme has over the last two years trained technical officers of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) on the requirements of major international standards including ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 22000. I encourage local companies to utilise the available expertise to meet their needs of standards implementation.” Prashad reminded local Guyanese businesses, that the implementation of standards whether it is “our local SME standard or any international standard, is not only going to make our businesses and what we produce better, it will also propel the “Made in Guyana brand” to an outstanding level that will see a greater demand for goods and services produced in Guyana.” He added that the participation of some local businesses in many trade fairs overseas has already indicated the demand for a range of Guyanese products.

Producing these products according to the requirements of recognised standards will increase that demand.

The minister commended the GNBS for its tireless efforts in working with its many stakeholders over the years to implement standardisation in Guyana.

World Standards Day is an initiative of the three leading International Standards Bodies namely the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The theme chosen for this year’s observances is: “International Standards – creating confidence globally”.