Gender breakthrough?
-Stabroek Business talks with President of the Essequibo Chamber of Commerce and Industry Suean Seewnarayan
Stabroek Business: I am assuming that you are now Head of the Essequibo Chamber after having been in business for some time. Can you tell me something about your business background?
President ECCI: I basically have no business background. I became a member of the Chamber after being a confidential secretary to Mr Alfro Alfonso. I was intrigued by the Chamber and its role. I was present when the Chamber had its first Annual General Meeting. Afterwards I held the position of Secretary for several years. The first AGM was held in 2000.
My passion is mostly volunteering and I found that I was able to put that passion to use in the Chamber of Commerce. Apart from working in the private sector as a secretary and an accountant, I also work as a medical transcriptionist with Handover Services in the United States of America.
My parents are rice farmers and I have relatives who have businesses. I have acted as a consultant to most of them. This led me to start my own consultancy in 2021. I source expertise needed by the business sector. Whatever the company wants I try to provide it. I also help companies to build relationships.
SB: When were you appointed/elected Head of the Chamber?
President ECCI: In 2018, I was elected President of the Chamber. I am the first female to hold the position. I am also the Chamber’s youngest ever president.
SB: Are you treating your position as an accomplishment for women in the Region?
President ECCI: Of course. I spent a great amount of time in the Chamber and business owners have now come to trust me. It is quite an accomplishment. I have faced no (gender) discrimination. I have had the full support of the executive and the majority of the membership. A few members questioned my gender and my business experience. That did not put a damper on my passion to serve.
SB: Leadership in business in Guyana has always been ‘a Man’s world’. Should your elevation to this position be considered a breakthrough for women in business in Guyana?
President ECCI: Yes
SB: What particular goals have you set yourself as the Head of the Essequibo Chamber?
President ECCI: I always believe in setting a standard and that is something I have worked towards since becoming a part of the Chamber. As President I focus on continually raising standards. This year we decided to raise the standard of our EXPO. We invested more in furniture and backdrops. Every supplier contributed to the vision.
SB: I expect that like everywhere else in Guyana, Essequibo has its business challenges. What do you consider to be the biggest challenge (s) facing the business community in Essequibo?
President ECCI: The biggest challenge we have is moving goods from the riverain area and to and from the Essequibo Coast to Georgetown. The Chamber would have lobbied to have more than two trips per day with the ferry service and that would have been a plus for us. It started with two times per day, it moved to three times per day and now we have it four times per day. But some days there are little glitches, but nothing major. There are some other challenges, but to talk about them it will have to be a collective discussion. Maybe some other time we can have a discussion with the membership.
SB: As Head of the Essequibo Chamber have you set yourself any particular goals for the business in the community in general?
President ECCI: I do not want it to be ‘my thing’, it has to be an ‘our thing’ or a ‘we thing’. There are some goals that are set out, but with our current election year coming to end very soon, the future President will have to carry that through.
If you are re-elected have you set yourself any new goals?
SB:
President ECCI: I would want our business owners to experience a greater ease in doing business. We will work to have some of the services decentralized. We would like to have some of the Guyana Revenue Authority services on the Essequibo Coast as business owners have to travel to Georgetown to acquire such things as compliances. In addition, if and when these services are brought here, there must not be a lengthy wait for the completion of the service. They must be delivered in a timely manner. We will also lobby for some services such as Lands and Surveys – that the process of acquisition is completed in the shortest possible time. Those are some of the things we have set aside to lobby for in the future. We will collaborate with the Tourism Association to conduct more workshops and training sessions for workers in the hospitality industry. This Trade Expo has seen businesses from Georgetown, Linden and Berbice and all our hotels are filled. We have been told that some people are being accommodated by friends and family. We have our tri-lake and many of our visitors have gone sightseeing. There is a need for training in our hospitality sector. I am aware that once some visitors go to some places they will want to return to. I’m talking about places like Adel Resort in the Pomeroon River, Lake Mainstay resort, Capoey Lake, St Denny Mission, and the Aruka Lake, among others. The roads to Mainstay Lake have been completed and those to the Capoey Lake is still being done.
Have you set yourself any goals for advancing the role of women in business in Guyana?
SB:
President ECCI: I have and I am working with a lot of women’s groups and with the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. We are involved in training girls and women as well as boys and men. In August 2022, the Essequibo Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber had our first training session. More than one hundred school leavers were involved in training in areas that can lead to jobs in the oil and gas sector.
Has the Chamber been talking with government about advancing the state of health of the business community in Guyana?
SB:
President ECCI: Yes, we have talks with the government about helping to advance the business community in Essequibo, but I would not wish to comment on that at this time.