Another Presidential Business Summit is to be hosted before the end of January to set a work programme for the economy for the next two years, President Bharrat Jagdeo said on Friday.

Jagdeo said most of the 19measures undertaken at the first Presidential Business Summit on October 11, 1999 had been implemented and he anticipated that the follow-up session would realise measures to create a more conducive climate for investments.

"I think a meeting is due [between the President and the private sector] to review the achievements of the last summit and to get on board to assess the performance of the economy and to be able to jump start the economy," Honorary Secretary of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) David Yankana said on Friday

He said the issue of holding wages at a certain level would have to be dealt with to assist businesses in cutting costs, and the unions would need to be integrally involved in the process of planning for economic revival in Guyana.

"We need to arrive at a joint [government, private sector, and labour] position to move the economy forward as the focus will have to be investments and job creation," Yankana stated.

Among the initiatives undertaken by a joint committee arising from the Presidential Business Summit was the introduction of an investment code in Guyana by November 30, 1999. A legal code is now in place but it is an emasculated version which does not reflect the work put in by the private sector and other interest groups.

It had been agreed that the government would have worked vigorously to remove the barriers that the Guyana rice industry faced in some Caricom states and would have worked actively to increase regional and extra regional markets. The Guyana Rice Export Board had undertaken to submit a paper to the president on the status of the industry.

Today, after several requests for assistance, the rice industry remains hamstrung by a heavy debt burden and a lack of access to working capital. It also faces depressed prices for its produce.

That summit also had agreed to have a development bank established and the government had agreed to waive taxes and reserve requirements and help secure lines of credit to finance this institution. Development Finance Limited of Trinidad is very close to setting up a branch in Guyana.

The government is reviewing the formula being used to calculate interest rates to determine the impact of the waiver on these.

In the area of mining, discussions were to have taken place on strengthening/rationalising the administrative structures and if appropriate establishing a special ministerial mechanism. An undertaking had been given and was implemented to link royalty payments to the price of gold on the world market.

On tourism, the government had agreed to house and fund the Tourism Authority for a period to be agreed on and for tax incentives to be given to the sector's leading investments to stimulate growth. Regulations to give effect to the tourism authority and its role and functions are to be tabled in parliament soon.

Decentralisation of land administration has been effected and the private sector was supposed to work with the government to implement the provisions of the Deeds Registry Act and the establishment of the semi-autonomous Lands and Survey Authority. The latter has been done.

The Small Business Act did not see the light of day despite a commitment to have it in parliament by December 31, 1999. The act is now promised for the new session of parliament.

Consideration was to have been given to placing government technical institutes under autonomous management to enhance the development of relevant skills.

It had also been agreed that donor support for skills training would have to be streamlined and coordinated, and that curriculum review and reform would be undertaken immediately by the private sector.

Relevant interests reviewed the anti-money laundering laws before their final passage in parliament.

Consumption tax was waived for the garment industry on local sales and consideration was to be given to establishing a marketing council for the forestry sector and to mobilising grant resources for the national certification committee.

For the poultry industry, the government had undertaken that once dumping was proven, it would make strong representation on the issue, and it also committed to the reactivation of the advisory committee on poultry.

A committee was established to work with the Ministry of Home Affairs to provide inputs in dealing with the crime situation.

The value-added tax study has been circulated and reviewed and support was given for the implementation of the Revenue Authority.

Copyright legislation is still to be introduced in parliament.

The Berbice River Bridge project, the Deep Water Harbour, the Canje Reservoir Scheme and the Guyana/Brazil Road remain at the concept stage.

The government had agreed to waive or reduce registration fees for new companies and companies revaluing their assets.

The joint-committee established by the parties is still in place but does not meet regularly to work on the issues yet to be implemented.