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Guyana Manufacturing
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Employee sawing hardwood plank for furniture, Ruimveldt, near
Georgetown
Courtesy Inter-American Bank (David Mangurian)
Most manufacturing in Guyana involved the processing of
agricultural products (sugar, rice, coconuts, and timber) and
minerals (bauxite, gold, and diamonds). The production of alumina
from bauxite was suspended in 1982. Guyana produced small
quantities of textiles, ceramics, and pharmaceuticals in stateowned factories. Among those industries, the pharmaceutical
industry showed the most potential for growth, having attracted
investments from Beecham, a British firm, and from Tecno Bago, an
Argentine firm. Manufacturers in Guyana also produced wooden
furniture, cigarettes, and paints, and other products.
The government was attempting to sell off many of the smaller
manufacturing companies as part of the Economic Recovery Program.
One of the first state-owned manufacturers to be partially
privatized was Demerara Distillers Limited, which produced rum and
other alcoholic beverages. The company was relatively successful
under state ownership, having become the world's largest producer
of rum after Bacardi and the leading supplier of bulk rum (sold
under various brand names) to Britain, according to the
Financial Times. The government owned the majority of the
company until 1988, when Demerara Distillers issued 12 million new
shares and diluted government ownership to about 47 percent. The
government did not appear ready to completely relinquish its hold
on the rum producer, however, because it blocked the company's 1990
effort to issue more shares.
Expansion of the manufacturing sector, like expansion in other
sectors, depended on increased foreign investment. Many observers
noted that with such investment, Guyana could become a supplier of
manufactured products to other countries in the Caribbean region.
The Commonwealth Advisory Group, affiliated with the Donor Support
Group that arranged the refinancing of the debt arrears in 1989,
had reported in 1989 that Guyana had the potential for "vibrant and
profitable" manufacturing of garments, shoes, leather goods, sawn
timber, furniture and other wood products, processed agricultural
products, paints, pharmaceuticals, and refrigerators. Preconditions
for that sort of development, according to the group, included an
easing of the foreign exchange constraint (achieved by 1990);
improved infrastructure (telecommunications and transport); a
simpler, less burdensome tax system; injections of foreign capital
and technical skills; attractive wages for skilled workers; and
stable government policy in support of private manufacturing.
Data as of January 1992
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![[JPEG]](http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/guyana/gy03_06a.jpg)
