Wednesday May 28, 2003
President
Jagdeo agrees with idea for Investment Law - participates
in consultation on Small Business Act
Georgetown, GINA, May 28, 2003
President Bharrat Jagdeo supports the idea
to move from an Investment Code to an Investment Law.
The President today participated in the Private Sector and
Government consultation on the draft Investment Code and the
Small Business Act at the Tower Hotel, Georgetown.
President Jagdeo said, “The point that I made when we
enacted the Investment Code was that it had to be a simple
document with a big set of guarantees. The document fulfilled
those requirements but there were several other views, one
is that the incentive regime should also be a part of the
document.”
The Head of State added, “My contention was that this
shouldn’t be so, because if you are going to include
the incentive regime, then you will have to move the core
act. We should have a code and a guide, and the guide should
enshrine the incentive regime, fortunately that was accepted.”
He noted that some people from the Private Sector were saying
that they prefer to move from an investment code to an investment
law. He explained that the same things that are included in
the investment code should be made into an investment law.
“I agree with that, so I think we have reached a wonderful
conclusion to this issue. I think it was good, we had some
give and take, but we have settled that issue, said President
Jagdeo.
He added that significant progress was made in relation to
the Small Business Act. The Head of State noted that there
was a wide cross-section of people present at the consultation
from all parts of the country.
“This Act has been in gestation for a long period and
we have finally settled it, so everyone has signed on it.
It will go back to the draftsmen and then we will table it
in Parliament,” said President Jagdeo.
He explained that this sets a framework for improving the
climate for small businesses and it will deal with the removal
of red tape, simplifying the regulatory regime along with
the registration regime of small businesses. He added that
it would also focus on greater incentives for small businesses
along with marketing and training support.
“All of these are very important if we want small businesses
to grow. So this Act sets the framework for that and it would
also put in place a mechanism that would coordinate all the
help for small businesses. On that body will sit a number
of representatives of the Private Sector and this is a collaborative
effort,” President Jagdeo said.
He added, “I think this will do our country well. Small
businesses have the potential not just for creating many jobs,
but also of solving other kinds of problems that can increase
the national output quickly,” said President Jagdeo.
Present at the consultation were Minister of Finance, Mr.
Saisnarine Kowlessar, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce,
Mr. Manzoor Nadir, Head of the Guyana Office for Investment
(GO-INVEST), Mr. Geoffrey Da Silva, Members of the Opposition
People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and representatives
of the National Bank of Industry and Commerce (NBIC) and other
agencies, among persons from different part of the country.
The Private Sector Commission proposed the Investment Act
to the Government. The objectives of the Act are to further
the socio-economic development of Guyana and to attract and
facilitate investment by providing legal protection for investment.
The Act also hopes to increase the predictability, stability
and transparency of the legal regime for investment; promote
the development of international best practices regarding
investment and providing a framework for fiscal incentives
for investors and direct investment.
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