New normal for C’bean businesses

Tackling the question, “How can Caribbean businesses cope with the Coronavirus impacts?”, Zulfikar Ally, President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Guyana Inc., believes that there will be a new normal when it comes to business in the Caribbean.

Ally, who was speaking during the virtual conference hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), said that he believed that on the macro level as well as the private sector level, there would be a new normal post COVID-19.

“I do not think that we will be able to go back to what we were accustomed to. The private sector, for example, we are now seeing, especially in Guyana, businesses that have to adopt technological change in order to survive and remain open and remain relevant during this COVID-19 crisis,” said Ally.

Allison Peart, Managing Director of A Peart Advisory Services Ltd., also chimed in that the answer depended on the definition of normal in each country and that this crisis was a time to reflect and determine how businesses would survive.

“In my opinion, it all depends on what you consider ‘normal’ and how you react to any crisis. Whether it is a hurricane situation, whether it is a pandemic, your business continuity is very important. Will this be business as usual? No, but it may not be business at all if we do not plan during this phase,” explained Peart.

Ally went on to support his argument by saying that those businesses who had workers working from home instead of the office were still running, but those businesses who were unable to adapt were doing horribly and had to resort to layoffs. Referencing the IMF projections for the region, Ally highlighted that all expected growth for the region had fallen significantly, some by more than half, including Guyana which had projections fall from approximately 86% to 42% growth. However, he explained that he believed that some companies would definitely survive.

“Coming out of the COVID-19 crisis you will find that the companies that are able to adapt right now, the supermarkets that are able to deliver their services to people’s homes, that will be the new normal that we are entering into. So the adoption of technology is what they have to get acquainted with. The new normal will absolutely not be the same,” pointed out Ally.

The president further explained that the Caribbean economies would have to pick themselves up from the aftermath of COVID-19. He said that there was no getting away from what needed to be done to move on, with the understanding that persons had to remain at home. Ally also highlighted the fact that tourists would not be returning to the region in mass numbers until pos-sibly a year or more and something would have to be done in the interim to keep the economies afloat. (AS)