The Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) yesterday admitted at a long-awaited taxation seminar that it made a mistake in approving two Queen?s Atlantic Investment Inc (QAII) tax holidays when provision was not made for them in the laws of Guyana. In an admission of a mistake in the controversial deal the government signed with QAII promising tax holidays for bio-technology and textiles when provisions were not made for the concessions in the country?s laws, Head of the Guyana Office for Invest-ment (Go-Invest) Geoffrey Da Silva during a brief question and answer period said ?We made a mistake. Asked also how it was that QA11 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government in March 2008 when in fact the government signed five supplementary investment agreements in August 2007 and in February 2008 with the group, Head of the Privatisation Unit Winston Brassington said that the MOU spoke of special tax incentives, which he did not elaborate on and which were only concluded in March this year. In spite of all the privatizations that took place over the last decade, he said that the government was still a major player in the economy controlling the Guyana Sugar Corporation, Guyoil, the Guyana Power and Light, the Guyana National Shipping Company, the National Communication Network, the Guyana National Newspapers Limited and to date the government also allows the Guyana Defence Force to use its military aircraft to compete with the private airlines in the commercial market place. read more

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