A NATIONAL PLAN – for more equitable and inclusive growth
THE story of Guyana is interwoven in the story of a nation struggling to feed, clothe and house its people mostly on a thin stretch of coastal lands.
One of the biggest challenges in this story is how to drain that piece of land to keep it productive and habitable. The story of the success of this new Granger/Nagamootoo Administration rests on the construction of a 10-year development strategy filled with progressive public policies that allows more of our people to access and develop more of our lands, especially the county of Essequibo. Over a series of several articles, I hope to add value to this national conversation that has to start – like yesterday.
Guyana was fortunate to experience a far-reaching development programme called the ERP (developed under Hoyte/Greenidge), which was instrumental in placing the nation back on a path of economic growth.
The ERP with its associated poverty alleviation programme was able to create the conditions to facilitate substantial private sector investments while at the same time targeting the most vulnerable population groups to provide for their partial economic rehabilitation.
In those days, growth rates of above 6% were the norm, not the exception. Somewhere along the line after the departure of Dr. Asgar Ally, the principles of the ERP were put to pasture. It is time to return to those days of above 6% growth rates, in spite of a hostile developmental environment where an external aggressor is exacting severe economic punishments on Guyana for not yielding to their indecorous extra-territorial ambitions.
But this entire strategy cannot be realised until and unless we urgently reach out to our friends in the ABC countries, CARICOM and Brazil to more actively support a mechanism that will increase their volumes of imports from Guyana. This is the time for bold and courageous diplomatic moves to open the necessary doors. And it all starts with the United States.
WHY THE UNITED STATES?
The United States has the market depth and breadth to buy everything that Guyana produces today, next year and five years from now, without placing the buyers or sellers at any material disadvantage.
Speaking to the facts, the USA is set to import some 1.1 million MT of raw sugar and some 0.8 million MT of raw rice (for the ethnic markets) for fiscal year 2015. Both of these U.S. markets will experience a shortfall, which is within Guyana’s capacity to satisfy.
The Obama Administration has the power to re-allocate and create opportunities for emergency imports. But very little will happen if we do not proactively engage. There is a powerful lobby in Washington DC funded by ExxonMobil. Right now they think much of Guyana and we have to utilise them to open the right doors for us. Now is not the time to be diplomatically demure. We have to leverage every possible relationship to open big doors at the Department of Agriculture, which manages the U.S. Foreign Agriculture Import Programme. With Venezuela in the equation, there is a view that if a diplomatic request is made for President Granger and President Obama to meet on this geo-political development in the Western Hemisphere and its adverse economic and military impact, it shall be favourably considered. Rice is now gone; Venezuelan oil will be next; that is a given. BUT we are not going to roll over and die!
SO WHAT IS NEXT BEYOND 2015 AND VENEZUELA?
We must plan for the construction of a solid Guyanese economy with noteworthy private investments in value added agriculture, manufacturing (agro-manufacturing, light manufacturing, jewellery manufacturing and a whole host of related enterprises), mining and housing. Trying to grow an economy on the back of ‘entrepot’ trading and Government expenditures as tried by the Jagdeo/Ramotar Administration is a fickle strategy and can lead to unsustainable long-term national debt. More than ever, Guyana needs to bring life to the fact that the private sector is the engine of growth.
The manufacturing, mining, housing and agricultural sector remained relatively under-developed using elementary technologies. To compound this challenge, the appetite of the local financial sector towards some of these industries especially agriculture remained satiated. It is thus imperative that the Ministries of Finance, Business and Foreign Affairs urgently present a set of bold and creative action plans that foster an environment where the international and local private sector would want to actively collaborate with the stakeholders to take these industries to the next level.
The tenacity of our people both in Guyana and in the Diaspora to mobilise private investments must never be discounted. I remember that trip that President Hoyte made to Washington DC in 1988. Those were very tough days for Guyana but we did it within three (3) years and we can do it again. I remember the excellent work done by that Harvard University graduate, Dr. Cecil Rajana as a key member of the Hoyte Administration. We have the indomitable entrepreneur, Dr. Yesu Persaud, ripe and primed with his well-established global business networks. Why not engage people with these experiences to add their value to the equation? However, this time those foreign direct investments must be more anchored in equity, inclusiveness and more advantageous for the workers (more training and better paying new jobs).
We however, cannot do this on our own and thus we have to ask our international friends for help and fast. It is extremely important that the United Nations be engaged in securing skills of retired industrialists from countries like Canada, Singapore, India, South Korea, Chile and Malaysia. These retired experts will be engaged to share practical ideas from practical people who have made millions out of brilliant ideas; not theoretical adventurism. The revised 10-year NDS must be populated with policy actions that clearly map out the investment environment so that real project ideas can be incubated swiftly to create real jobs and real profits. The positive outcome from such an alliance between the State and the private sector is poverty reduction and reward for risk taken; in summary “a good life for all”.
A RE-FOCUSED GUYANA INVESTMENT AUTHORITY (GIA)
But at the centre of this idea is a re-focused GIA that is built from scratch and fully empowered. It has to be led by well-trained and committed professionals like the names I mentioned above, who are “logged-on” to the idea that the GIA is a one-stop service to all investors and “NO” is not an answer to any investor. All that matters should be:
1. Is the source of the funding legitimate?
2. Is the track record of the investor sound?
3. Can the risks associated with the project be mitigated?
4. What is the environmental impact of the investment?
In summary, the focus should always be – “Guyana is open for business and how can we help?” Once vetted and found to be good for Guyana, all doors must be broken down to ensure that those ideas are continually supported by the State, so that investors can cultivate businesses and stakeholders (including the workers) can reap benefits.
But more importantly, the State should also become the hunter. It is recommended that “Economic Desks” be established at every Embassy, High Commission and Consulate like yesterday. These desks must not be jobs for the boys, but managed by established business people with deep roots in the respective Diaspora communities. Their jobs are to network and connect business people to business people, business people to the GIA, but most importantly showcase Guyana. Exciting times ahead!
CONCLUSION
Next time I shall be continuing this conversation on the question of an Industrialisation Policy for the Rice Industry as a tool for new wealth and new jobs.
"It is time to return to those days of above 6% growth rates, in spite of a hostile developmental environment where an external aggressor is exacting severe economic punishments on Guyana for not yielding to their indecorous extra-territorial ambitions."
