When the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) met last week, some very important points were brought up for discussion and consideration in relation to the development path Guyana should take.
This approach being taken by the administration seeks to involve all the relevant stakeholders as part of the national development dialogue. Government alone cannot, and should not, be left to decide national development policies and how they must be implemented. The private sector, which is considered the engine of growth, must be encouraged to have an input.
The NCC is the body that oversees the implementation of Guyana’s National Competitiveness Strategy (NCS) and is the highest level public-private dialogue body in the nation. It is chaired by a president and comprises senior ministers and officials of the government and senior representatives of the private sector. This is a key forum where the government and private representatives meet to have dialogue on issues of national importance.
Following the National Economic Forum (NEF) held in August 2013, the chairpersons of the 10 thematic working groups were invited to make presentations to the NCC, based on the recommendations developed by their respective groups.
The thematic groups consisted of members of the government, private sector, the parliamentary opposition and other stakeholders who met regularly during the period June-August 2013 in preparation for the forum in order to develop presentations, focusing on policy recommendations for priority consideration by government regarding the 10 major sectoral areas.
There were also some key recommendations made which the authorities would need to consider in their discussions at the level of the Cabinet. The key short-term actions include upgrading of the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, the Bartica/Issano Road, the East Bank Essequibo Road and the Parika Backdam Road.
The long-term actions include the Kurupukari/Mora Road, paving of the Linden/Lethem road, developing an alternative road between the East Coast and West Coast of Demerara, reconstruction of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, dredging of the Demerara River, establishment of a container terminal and a deep water harbour.
It was pointed out that the small size of Guyana’s domestic economy and the importance of trade as a major source of economic growth and employment make trade a critical policy area.
The recommendations include strengthening trade agreements, introduction of the Single Window System, a certification laboratory for Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) standards, improved monitoring of ports for illegal drugs, investments in infrastructure, particularly the road to Lethem and the deep water harbour, re-engineering of Go-Invest and challenging consulates and embassies/high commissions overseas to identify opportunities for trade.
A presentation on tourism highlighted several areas that priority should be given to, such as marketing, accessibility, nation branding, product development, pricing and safety and security.
Another presentation outlined some of the challenges to human resources development – the low level of adult literacy and numeracy, inadequate levels of performance in science, technology, English and mathematics, undertrained teachers and trainers and low Internet and IT penetration due to high costs.
Recommendations included the establishment of a national education planning secretariat, support for online and distance education programmes, a strategic IT penetration programme, resuscitation of the National Science Council, increasing the minimum qualification for a high school teacher to be a first degree and inclusion of more foreign languages and exchange programmes in schools, particularly in Spanish and Portuguese.
The University of Guyana (UG) plans to launch four online degree programmes by March so that prospective students do not have to physically attend the university. This would be particularly beneficial for prospective students who live far away from the two established UG campuses.
All of these are important comments/suggestions/recommendations that came out of this high level public-private dialogue. It is hoped that as the development debates continue, all stakeholders, including the political opposition, will make their contributions in an effort to help create a better future for the citizens of Guyana.
