MINISTERS MEET WITH BOARD OF GCIC

St. George, August 01, 2008 -- As part of the transition process of the new administration, Minister of Finance, Planning, Economy, Foreign Trade, Energy and Cooperatives, Mr. Nazim Burke, together with Minister of State, Mr. Michael Church and other senior officials of the Ministry, held discussions with the Board of Directors of the Grenada Chamber of Industry and Commerce, on Thursday July 31, 2008.

The discussions centered on the role of Government in private sector development and touched on a number of issues including:

ü      The Public Sector – Private Sector Partnership for Development;
ü      Improving the current investment climate/doing business in the country;
ü      Identifying and promoting the lead sector(s) in the economy;
ü      Tax reform;
ü      The regulation of the financial sector;
ü      Grenada’s energy policy;
ü      The status of major private sector projects;
ü      Private sector institutional strengthening;

According to Minister Burke, “Government’s role is to create the enabling environment for business development through partnership with the private sector which must play the leading role in the economic process.”

Minister Burke informed the GCIC of the work in progress to restructure and strengthen the capacity of the ministry to improve its effectiveness and to facilitate the undertaking of its new responsibilities. This includes the establishment of a Business Development Division within the Ministry.

The GCIC representatives pledged their support for undertakings of the Ministry and Government, and expressed their willingness to ensure that the partnership arrangement works to the advantage of the country.