GCCI to ask Int’l community to help small businesses prepare for oil and gas
(Kaieteur News) Even though its agenda for 2021 will be focused on ensuring Guyana has a Local Content Legislation in place, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) said it would also seek to garner international support so that its members can be better prepared to benefit from the country’s nascent oil and gas sector.
This position was adumbrated by recently elected GCCI President, Timothy Tucker.
He made these remarks during his recent participation in a discussion on Local Content, Business, and Guyana’s Development. That engagement was hosted by Globespan 24×7, an online discussion outfit.
According to the President of Guyana’s oldest Business Support Organisation (BSO), “What we are definitely going to do is push more small business training and building small business capacity”. As such, Tucker noted that the GCCI is planning to reach out worldwide to institutions and organisations that, that would support private sector development in Guyana.
The GCCI President noted too, that GCCI would also be turning to governments for support while pointing to the Indian Government and offers of scholarships.
He divulged too, that GCCI in its drive to build domestic capacity would be looking to connect with other major universities around the world in order to source scholarships and similar type training to enhance local businesses’ capacity to take on greater roles in the emerging oil and gas sector.
According to Tucker, GCCI also wants to work closer with the Small Business Bureau so the Chamber can be a gateway for accessing finance from those institutions.
This, he said, obtains not only for the small businesses but stressed that the institution is also looking to act as a medium to access financing for larger institutions.
Speaking on this matter as well was Paul Cheong who currently serves as the head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). Cheong was adamant that accessing financing in Guyana is expensive and uncompetitive, a situation that has to be remedied if domestic businesses are to be competitive with their regional and other counterparts.
