I was interested in finding out the state of manufacturing in Guyana and I came across this letter I wanted to share with you. 

Guyana’s manufacturing sector…Too many traders, too few manufacturers

May 09, 2016 News 2 Comments

By Kiana Wilburg

In the 90s, Guyana’s manufacturing sector was crawling with innovators. There was an insatiable desire to manufacture almost everything that was needed for local consumption. In those days, manufactures produced matches, jams and jellies, mosquito coils, even the detergents needed by the housewife.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

Manufacturers then also got involved in producing pasteurized milk; they established a ham and bacon factory and constructed several facilities to generate canned products.
Today, the manufacturing sector makes a marginal contribution to the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Fifty years later, it is bloated with hundreds of foreign products like those it once produced for domestic consumption. We have packaged plantain chips from Trinidad…packaged coconut milk and coconut oil from the United States.
It has left many wondering whether the sector consists of merchants instead of manufacturers.
Sharing his thoughts recently on the matter was Kaieteur News columnist, Fredrick Kissoon. He believes that in the immediate post-independence period under the late President Forbes Burnham’s, there was a greater emphasis on manufacturing as a policy of economic development. The political activist said, however, that the late President Desmond Hoyte’s economic recovery programme adopted a neoliberal approach to economic development. Kissoon opined that this impacted adversely on the manufacturing sector and since then, it has never recovered.
“We continue to build an economy based on the export of raw materials and what has essentially happened is that the economy has become one of trade with no serious manufacturing dimensions. And what we do have in terms of manufactured products cannot compete internationally. We manufacture sweets, we assemble some types of industrial goods and cooking condiments and those cannot compete even regionally…”
Sharing his thoughts on the issue recently was University Professor, Dr. David Hinds. He opined that manufacturing is certainly one of the ways to reinvigorate the village economy which is something President David Granger has spoken about.
The University professor said that Guyana has a history of small manufacturing initiatives that could be used as a template now.
He said that in the 1970s many such initiatives had sprung up across the country. He said that there has been a tendency in developing economies like Guyana’s to put all the emphasis on attracting large foreign investments and not paying enough attention to small and medium sized manufacturing.

Kaieteur News columnist Fredrick Kissoon

Dr. Hinds said that that is an inadequate model which Guyana has been guilty of following. The University Professor said that it is important for Guyana to embrace a mixed model, which partly asks the following question – How does this policy benefit our poor people?
The political activist said that what has affected the sector in his belief is the Free trade principle which has led to a liberal flow of foreign goods into Guyana’s market.  Dr. Hinds said that is always going to be a challenge but he is sure that the government can guarantee that local manufacturing is protected and given prominence in its own markets.
While Kissoon and Hinds share similar views, Finance Minister, Winston Jordan believes otherwise. He has been unashamedly critical of the Guyana Manufacturing Services Association for crying out about the challenges it faced; challenges which have been affecting the sector “since Noah built the ark.”
He actually made his disappointment known as he bemoaned the fact that no product of Guyanese origin is a household name in Caricom, save and except El Dorado rum.
Jordan acknowledges that efforts and strides have been made by some in the sector. Regardless of this, the Finance Minister is of the firm belief that the sector can do much more and has been doing much more in the past.
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, more goods were manufactured, canned or assembled domestically: vehicles, bicycles, refrigerators, freezers, radio, matches, tooth paste, 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.”
The Finance Minister said, that too many of Guyana’s 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. He said that some of the items are of such poor quality and low standard that he marvels at how they could find a market in Guyana.

University Professor, Dr. David Hinds

“But 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, why can’t we manufacture these basic products, where we have all the ingredients grown locally and sell to our neighbours?,” inquired the Minister.
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,” 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.”
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.”

https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...o-few-manufacturers/

Manufacturing appears to have been abandoned. It is ridiculous: importing fried Channa, plantain chips, cassava chips, Tamarind etc. Guyanese has become a lazy nation. We wait for foreign remittances and now oil money.

@Former Member posted:

Manufacturing appears to have been abandoned. It is ridiculous: importing fried Channa, plantain chips, cassava chips, Tamarind etc. Guyanese has become a lazy nation. We wait for foreign remittances and now oil money.

I like this topic. This is good. 

@Sheik101 posted:

I like this topic. This is good. 

Yet you contributed nothing.

Bata shoes, Sanaya textiles and the glass factory.

Local products for  personal use, Yes Guyanese are lazy. For manufacturer/ commercial scale it’s impossible to survive.
1. Too much political hurdles. 

2. No infrastructure. 
3. No reliable power supply.

4. unreliable workers. 

Guyana, the land of many waters .... it’s cheaper to import bot water... 

  " Baron Foods"  moved to St.Lucia .

When moved to Georgetown in the early 70's ,my second job was at Besto Feed Factory.

@Ramakant-P posted:

Yet you contributed nothing.

Ah was reading uncle Rama. Chup.

Current and previous administrations have not done enough to revive this sector and to attract foreign investments. They are too busy fighting one another for power.

@Former Member posted:

Local products for  personal use, Yes Guyanese are lazy. For manufacturer/ commercial scale it’s impossible to survive.
1. Too much political hurdles. 

2. No infrastructure. 
3. No reliable power supply.

4. unreliable workers. 

Guyana, the land of many waters .... it’s cheaper to import bot water... 

Dave, is limacol a guyanese product?

@Former Member posted:

Current and previous administrations have not done enough to revive this sector and to attract foreign investments. They are too busy fighting one another for power.

Quite true. And the country got the potential without a doubt.

@Sheik101 posted:

Ah was reading uncle Rama. Chup.

So you did?

@Former Member posted:

Manufacturing appears to have been abandoned. It is ridiculous: importing fried Channa, plantain chips, cassava chips, Tamarind etc. Guyanese has become a lazy nation. We wait for foreign remittances and now oil money.

We need to change this and fast. It is my hope any oil revenue goes to investing in local businesses, agriculture and manufacturing. Guyana is too vast in its resources for there to ever be hunger not only in Guyana but throughout the Caribbean community. 

Unfortunately, there has been a brain drain and less of a workforce to maintain and sustain these types of infrastructures. 

One needs to carefully administer the monies available to Guyana for the oil for major developments.

A major part of this revenue should be focused on the development of a hydroelectric power project to provide a securer source of electricity for the people plus for the development of industries, etc..

Focus should be on the Amaila Hydroelectric project; and if possible; engage on a larger project with the major assistance from Brazil which will serve the needs of both countries.

@Rochelle posted:

We need to change this and fast. It is my hope any oil revenue goes to investing in local businesses, agriculture and manufacturing. Guyana is too vast in its resources for there to ever be hunger not only in Guyana but throughout the Caribbean community. 

Unfortunately, there has been a brain drain and less of a workforce to maintain and sustain these types of infrastructures. 

Everyone in Guyana aspires to become a Wall Street banking attorney like you. Then there is no need for manufacturing. They can spend their entire day on GNI and live happily ever after.

@Sheik101 posted:

Dave, is limacol a guyanese product?

Limacol is a byproduct of alcohol.. rite. It is sold and marketed by its value. The cost of producing the plastic bottle and labels for water in Guyana is expensive due to many factors, hence it’s cheaper to import. 

@Former Member posted:

Manufacturing appears to have been abandoned. It is ridiculous: importing fried Channa, plantain chips, cassava chips, Tamarind etc. Guyanese has become a lazy nation. We wait for foreign remittances and now oil money.

You are spot on with this observation. It’s shocking to see items and agri products that grow in Guyana being imported from Trinidad and sold at Bounty and Massey. More than half of the supermarkets in Guyana are owned by Chinese. They even import bottled water.

@Former Member posted:

Limacol is a byproduct of alcohol.. rite. It is sold and marketed by its value. The cost of producing the plastic bottle and labels for water in Guyana is expensive due to many factors, hence it’s cheaper to import. 

It's not a byproduct of alcohol ,one of the ingredient is alcohol.

A Guyanese tradition

The Limacol brand name has been a tradition in Guyana and around the world since its Guyanese developer, J. A. Adamson (later nicknamed Johnny “Limacol” Adamson) was employed as chief pharmacist, chemist, general manager and managing director at what was then known as Bookers Drug Store in British Guiana in the early 1900s.

According to Alvin O. Thompson writing in “Colonialism and Underdevelopment in Guyana 1580 – 1803” (1987) Adamson developed Limacol “after some months of experimenting”, when he needed to find a substitute for bay rum, which was expensive, and was asked to develop a less expensive lotion that could be used instead of eau de cologne.

The result was the “creation and introduction of the lotion ‘lime rum’ ”, which would become so popular that Bookers, who named it Limacol, registered it as a trademark to protect the creator, the product and its market, as cheap imitations started appearing.

The result of Adamson’s experiments is, according to its current manufacturer, a “unique combination of alcohol and blended aromatic oils, with a lime fragrance” whose “proprietary formula [is] sourced from the Amazon and beyond”.

Adamson’s Limacol formula began selling across the Caribbean, and, by the 1930s was on sale in Britain. Close to a century later, Limacol remains a household name throughout Guyana, the Caribbean, and the West Indian diaspora.

By the late 1930s, with the introduction of Limacol and Ferrol, the latter also a well-known cough and cold elixir in which JA Adamson was also involved, Bookers Drug Store was on its way to becoming the Caribbean region’s oldest and largest pharmaceutical company, and its Limacol brand a Guyanese tradition.

But it almost never happened. Events affecting its company would place the Limacol brand into hard times before it would survive to continue its tradition in Guyana and the Caribbean.

Under the umbrella of the Bookers Group of Companies, a firm with interests in the colony’s sugar, rum, shipping and many other industries at the time, Bookers Drug Store had opened in the 1920s at the corner of Church and Main streets, Georgetown, with the aim of manufacturing and distributing pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs.

Within a decade of their Limacol introduction, Bookers Drug Store’s manufacturing and retail site was razed in the 1945 “Great Fire of Georgetown”, and much activity reduced or suspended for a period.

After a spate of temporary locations and – according to an autobiography of Wilfred A. Gilkes, who was hired by Adamson in the 1930s and managed the company’s Bourda branch – a period of hardship for employees, Bookers eventually rebuilt on its original site as Bookers Universal Store, and relocated the manufacturing section to La Penitence, then considered just outside the city, where it continued producing the Limacol brand as Bookers Manufacturing Drug Company Limited (BMDCL).

When the Limacol manufacturing company was nationalised in the 1970s, it was renamed, and fell behind in its services. It would take privatisation of the Limacol company to put the brand on more solid ground, when a new company was formed to ensure its continued production.

Today, Limacol has added to its international recognition after being awarded the Caribbean Premier League cricket competition franchise under its well-established flagship brand.

https://www.guyanatimesinterna...-guyanese-tradition/

@Rochelle posted:

We need to change this and fast. It is my hope any oil revenue goes to investing in local businesses, agriculture and manufacturing. Guyana is too vast in its resources for there to ever be hunger not only in Guyana but throughout the Caribbean community. 

Unfortunately, there has been a brain drain and less of a workforce to maintain and sustain these types of infrastructures. 

This is a win win for the economy and it would create employment opportunities especially for youths where the unemployment rate is over 20%. I don't have the most up to date stats.

@Django posted:

  " Baron Foods"  moved to St.Lucia .

When moved to Georgetown in the early 70's ,my second job was at Besto Feed Factory.

Barons and the Guyanese Jamaica companies produce around 500 spice products.

@Former Member posted:

A Guyanese tradition

October 25, 2013 TIMES INT'L

The Limacol brand name has been a tradition in Guyana and around the world since its Guyanese developer, J. A. Adamson (later nicknamed Johnny “Limacol” Adamson) was employed as chief pharmacist, chemist, general manager and managing director at what was then known as Bookers Drug Store in British Guiana in the early 1900s.

According to Alvin O. Thompson writing in “Colonialism and Underdevelopment in Guyana 1580 – 1803” (1987) Adamson developed Limacol “after some months of experimenting”, when he needed to find a substitute for bay rum, which was expensive, and was asked to develop a less expensive lotion that could be used instead of eau de cologne.

The result was the “creation and introduction of the lotion ‘lime rum’ ”, which would become so popular that Bookers, who named it Limacol, registered it as a trademark to protect the creator, the product and its market, as cheap imitations started appearing.

The result of Adamson’s experiments is, according to its current manufacturer, a “unique combination of alcohol and blended aromatic oils, with a lime fragrance” whose “proprietary formula [is] sourced from the Amazon and beyond”.

Adamson’s Limacol formula began selling across the Caribbean, and, by the 1930s was on sale in Britain. Close to a century later, Limacol remains a household name throughout Guyana, the Caribbean, and the West Indian diaspora.

By the late 1930s, with the introduction of Limacol and Ferrol, the latter also a well-known cough and cold elixir in which JA Adamson was also involved, Bookers Drug Store was on its way to becoming the Caribbean region’s oldest and largest pharmaceutical company, and its Limacol brand a Guyanese tradition.

But it almost never happened. Events affecting its company would place the Limacol brand into hard times before it would survive to continue its tradition in Guyana and the Caribbean.

Under the umbrella of the Bookers Group of Companies, a firm with interests in the colony’s sugar, rum, shipping and many other industries at the time, Bookers Drug Store had opened in the 1920s at the corner of Church and Main streets, Georgetown, with the aim of manufacturing and distributing pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs.

Within a decade of their Limacol introduction, Bookers Drug Store’s manufacturing and retail site was razed in the 1945 “Great Fire of Georgetown”, and much activity reduced or suspended for a period.

After a spate of temporary locations and – according to an autobiography of Wilfred A. Gilkes, who was hired by Adamson in the 1930s and managed the company’s Bourda branch – a period of hardship for employees, Bookers eventually rebuilt on its original site as Bookers Universal Store, and relocated the manufacturing section to La Penitence, then considered just outside the city, where it continued producing the Limacol brand as Bookers Manufacturing Drug Company Limited (BMDCL).

When the Limacol manufacturing company was nationalised in the 1970s, it was renamed, and fell behind in its services. It would take privatisation of the Limacol company to put the brand on more solid ground, when a new company was formed to ensure its continued production.

Today, Limacol has added to its international recognition after being awarded the Caribbean Premier League cricket competition franchise under its well-established flagship brand.

https://www.guyanatimesinterna...-guyanese-tradition/

 A trusted item, this Limacol. From a person not feeling well to the " dead house" this product was always to the rescue.  

When all fails reach for the Limacol!!! It is funny how products become part of folklore.

@Former Member posted:

When all fails reach for the Limacol!!! It is funny how products become part of folklore.

The freshness of a breeze in a bottle.

I must give uncle Rama one. Especially when he wake up with dem " bad feelings" soon morning. 😃. After tomorrow, some members here might need some. 😃

@Sheik101 posted:

The freshness of a breeze in a bottle.

I must give uncle Rama one. Especially when he wake up with dem " bad feelings" soon morning. 😃. After tomorrow, some members here might need some. 😃

That's why I'm giving them hell on another thread.  

@Bibi Haniffa posted:

You are spot on with this observation. It’s shocking to see items and agri products that grow in Guyana being imported from Trinidad and sold at Bounty and Massey. More than half of the supermarkets in Guyana are owned by Chinese. They even import bottled water.

Part of China Belt and Road strategy. Chiny has business acumen. 

@Former Member posted:

Current and previous administrations have not done enough to revive this sector and to attract foreign investments. They are too busy fighting one another for power.

Yup, Grainjaw said people can start businesses, they can even start a sugar cake stand. 

@Former Member posted:

Manufacturing appears to have been abandoned. It is ridiculous: importing fried Channa, plantain chips, cassava chips, Tamarind etc. Guyanese has become a lazy nation. We wait for foreign remittances and now oil money.

Spot on!

Here we are, all beating up on each other, cussing up an ting, suspensions galore, bannings galore, padlock tarass and dem guys kicking back and not doing shyte for the country. The governments need to take the lead, the people see a government showing no initiative, they in turn do the same.

@alena06 posted:

Yup, Grainjaw said people can start businesses, they can even start a sugar cake stand. 

They can also start cane juice and peanut punch stands. How about a cassava bread factory.

If the PPP/C wins today they will move the country forward.

They will continue to build and repair broken roads, Bridges, Kokers  neglected by the APNU/AFC government.  

The farmers will be given more lands to cultivate.  Rice will be King.

The citrus fruit industry will strive again.

Commerce and small businesses will be more progressive. Loans will be provided for them. The Hydro Electric plant will be revived.

Salary will be doubled for Government workers.

All this will be done this year.

Yehhhh right,we believe.

Jus like dem gun repair de koaka, befo de rice field soak with salt wata.

@cain posted:

Yehhhh right,we believe.

You think they learnt their lessons and can do better?

I do not see the PNC surrendering after months of going against the odds. 

@Tola posted:

Jus like dem gun repair de koaka, befo de rice field soak with salt wata.

The seawall broke and the APNU/AFC did nothing to stop the flood. You are so silly.  Words cannot describe how stupid you are.

@Ramakant-P posted:

If the PPP/C wins today they will move the country forward.

They will continue to build and repair broken roads, Bridges, Kokers  neglected by the APNU/AFC government.  

The farmers will be given more lands to cultivate.  Rice will be King.

The citrus fruit industry will strive again.

Commerce and small businesses will be more progressive. Loans will be provided for them. The Hydro Electric plant will be revived.

Salary will be doubled for Government workers.

All this will be done this year.

So what was stopping the PPP from doing all this during their 20+ years in office? 

@Ramakant-P posted:

The seawall broke and the APNU/AFC did nothing to stop the flood. You are so silly.  Words cannot describe how stupid you are.

Why is it when one government screws up just like the other and its mentioned here. Most PPP posters reaches into the gutter to degrade the poster. Is this a 'quality' you learn from your leader ? 

@Tola posted:

Why is it when one government screws up just like the other and its mentioned here. Most PPP posters reaches into the gutter to degrade the poster. Is this a 'quality' you learn from your leader ? 

Strange that you chose to insert " quality' you learn from your leader ? " after mentioning the PPP.

@Former Member posted:

Strange that you chose to insert " quality' you learn from your leader ? " after mentioning the PPP.

Please show me where other posters are as degrading, as most PPP poster on GCDF.