Businesses must improve customer service, international standards – finance minister, PSC chairman

Last Updated on Friday, 29 May 2026, 21:41 by Writer

– new PSC executive elected

Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh and Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Gerry Gouveia Jr. on Friday challenged businesses to improve the quality of customer service and ensure there are international standards.

 “The next stage of the private sector investment must be meeting international standards while remaining rooted in Guyana’s ownership, Guyana’s participation, and Guyana’s opportunity,” Mr Gouveia said in remarks before he was re-elected to head that apex business organisation.

For his part, Dr Singh said businesses must not only be seen to be cutting ribbons – for the opening of new enterprises and branches – but they should place great emphasis on ensuring that customer service is as “impeccable as the physical appearance of that edifice.”

He said consumer experience must be a world class experience if there is to be a modern Guyana. “I don’t think that any of you would be offended like I said earlier or even disagree with me that I believe that when I say that I am of the view that there is still a lot of room for us to improve the quality of service that we deliver,” he said in his feature address before the PSC’s business session. 

Customer service representatives often speak to patrons impolitely, exhibit impatience, pay little attention to requests, chat with co-workers or are pre-occupied with social media on their mobile devices.

Minister Singh also reiterated the government’s advice to the local business community that the time had come for family-owned businesses to form conglomerates.

He noted that large Caribbean companies such as AnsaMcAl, Massy’s, and Grace Kennedy started off as family-owned businesses.

Against that backdrop, he urged the PSC members to form strategic partnerships, find innovative and creative ways to mobilise capital, deploy technology to seize opportunities and advantages of scale so that they could grow and realise potential and take advantage of bigger opportunities and penetrate newer and bigger markets.

Mr Gouveia, for his part, said while Guyanese businesses were being told that they were too small to compete for major opportunities, infrastructure, housing, tourism development, agri-processing and oil and gas, it was time that they pooled their resources, technical capacity and relationships.

“That’s the only way we can continue to compete at a global level. This is also how we ensure that the opportunities created here in Guyana are shared broadly across our business community, allowing more local companies, more entrepreneurs, and more sectors to benefit meaningfully for the economic development here in this country. So that’s the only way that we can continue to participate in the government EOIs (expressions of interest), into these large-scale opportunities that we keep seeing popping up over and over and over,” he said. 

Citing the fact that there are several Surinamese businesses that have expanded to Guyana, Dr Singh also said the time had come once again for Guyanese businesses to establish operations in the Caribbean.

“I want to leave with you the thought that as you’re building up this capacity that you’re building up, I want you to consider the potential for expansion beyond Guyana’s borders, to establish yourselves,” he said.

Surinamese businesses have established branches in the areas of insurance and food supplies in Guyana.

The finance minister noted that several decades ago when the only major means of transportation was by boat, Guyanese insurance companies with much smaller portfolios had set up branches in several Caribbean islands.

Meanwhile, the PSC on Friday elected the organisation’s leadership team for the 2026–2027 term and reaffirmed its commitment to advancing private sector development, economic growth, and national prosperity.

The newly elected PSC executive committee comprises:

• Gerald (Gerry) Gouveia Jr. – Chairman
• Kathy Smith – Vice Chairwoman
• Imran Saccoor – Treasurer
• Josephine Tapp – Honorary Secretary
• Manniram Prashad – Corporate Coordinator

The PSC reaffirmed its commitment to a competitive business environment, sustainable economic growth, and being a strong voice for Guyana’s private sector.