The organisation presented its inaugural 40 Under 40 Entrepreneurial Awards on April 25, 2019, and has since created a community of honourees to facilitate activities such as the Tax Reform Forum and other initiatives to engage, enlighten, empower, and encourage entrepreneurs.
These were largely achieved through presentations from Guyanese youth including, Dr Vishnu Doerga, CEO ActionINVEST Caribbean Inc., Ayana McCalman, Founder of Sacred Grove, and Eldon Marks, Founder & CEO at V75 Inc. and Nexus Hub Inc. with Joshua Kissoon, CEO of Techlify, who each highlighted the challenges and opportunities in their business sectors – investment and finance, art and culture, technology and communications, respectively.
Tax Reform Forum
The Tax Reform Forum, which was moderated by CEO of Social Rank Media, Dr. Rosh Khan and CEO of Curl Fete Natural Hair & Beauty Expo, Mrs. Tamika Henry-Fraser, also included feedback from the Minister of Finance, Honourable Winston Jordan; Director of Manufacturing and Marketing within the Ministry of Business, Mr. Dominic Gaskin; Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Captain Gerry Gouveia, A.A., and GRA Representative Mr Christopher Roberts.
Collectively they fielded a number of questions covering topics including VAT, Excise Tax, vehicle imports, acquisition of various forms of business licences, and even the liberalisation of Guyana’s telecommunications sector.
The constant thread throughout the discussions was that while there have been significant tax reforms in Guyana in recent years, gaps still remain that hinder small business creation and expansion in the future.
Minister Jordan also noted that the Government welcomes feedback, particularly from Guyanese youth, and encouraged that the session be the first of many. He also invited the group to formally present their findings to the Ministry of Finance for further consideration to aid in instituting viable improvements to Guyana’s business climate.
The organiser of the Forum and founder of Brand YOUth, Mr Selwyn Collins, noted that tax reform is necessary and urgent if the country is to significantly reduce poverty and diversify its economy beyond oil to include key sectors like agriculture, education, health, infrastructure and technology.
He moreover emphasized that it is difficult to ignore that taxes greatly impact the entrepreneurial spirit and innovation, which is why Brand YOUth is committed to addressing these issues by encouraging participation from those directly affected – Guyanese entrepreneurs. –Tamika Henry ♦
