Chinese businesses must comply with local laws, regulations – Jagdeo

Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo made it clear that Chinese businesses, like all other local and foreign ventures, must comply with Guyanese laws and regulations.

“We’ve made it clear to the regulatory bodies that you have to enforce the laws uniformly,” the Vice President said on Thursday during his weekly press conference.

Jagdeo was responding to concerns raised about Chinese ventures locally. Specific concerns, he said, have been raised about Chinese business owners bypassing local laws and regulations for the sale of different items and the construction of buildings.

He acknowledged these concerns and contended that he too would have protested foreigners bypassing these laws and regulations as a native of Guyana.

As such, he emphasised that the local regulatory bodies have been tasked with beefing up efforts to guarantee that all Chinese businesses comply with the laws and regulations for their operations.

He believes full compliance will help level the playing field for businesses operating locally.

Outside of this commitment, Jagdeo explained that restrictions on Chinese businesses would be difficult to institute.

“I spoke with about four persons and they recognise that you can’t stop foreigner once they get access into the country because we don’t have restrictions on foreigners or foreign companies estblishing businesses in Guyana.

“There’s no restriction on it and there is hard to put a restriction based on nationality,” Jagdeo said.