– GMSA President
the reliability and cost of electricity, access to finance on reasonable terms, high freight costs and challenging market access.
Unsurprisingly, Nokta used his presentation, delivered in the presence of several of the GRA’s top officials, including Commissioner General Godfrey Statia to raise what he described as “tax measures…which are frustrating our members’ goals” of adding value to the productive sectors including “the recategorisation of zero and standard rated items to exempt; VAT on electricity; VAT on forest products which he said had had the effect of undermining the competitiveness of manufacturers and by extension, the country’s economy. Nokta said that having again raised the same issues with Finance Minister Winston Jordan just a few weeks ago “and proposed several measures for consideration” the GMSA was hopeful that evidence could be forthcoming, when next year’s budget is announced, “of what can happen through collaboration between the private sector and government.”
Beyond those considerations Nokta further rolled out the manufacturing sector’s ‘wish list’ which he said includes “the review and hopefully removal of VAT on electricity, water, education; targeted assistance for struggling sectors such as forestry through the removal of VAT on forest products, the establishment of consolidated facilities for wood products and agro-processing through public-private partnerships; incentives for investing in renewable energy options; locally manufactured products being given a larger share in public procurement; and adherence to the Small Business Laws which state that at least 20% of public spending should be towards local procurement from small businesses.”
More fundamentally, the GMSA told the forum that the private sector and specifically the GMSA was seeking to play a part “in supporting modern and effective taxation systems,” through “dialogue in the formation of tax policies.”
Government and the private sector have, for years, been at loggerheads over differing opinions on the fairness of tax policies and Nokta said that the country would be hard-pressed to sustain “what is now eleven years of uninterrupted economic growth” without “open, frank exchanges” on tax-related issues among