Twenty-five years after coming to Guyana, Barama Company Limited is set to renew its investment agreement.Minister Raphael TrotmanWith that Malaysian-owned company among the biggest foreign investors, along with the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT), the new administration would be looking at how well Barama has lived up to its expectations.These would include value-added processing and its plywood operations at Buck Hall,Wholesale Jerseys Cheap, Essequibo River and at Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara.Barama has been allocated 1.6 million hectares, the biggest forest concession for any one company in Guyana, acquiring in the early 90’s when Guyana was looking for foreign investors and new jobs.According to a Ministry of the Presidency statement on the renewal of the agreement, talks have started.Teams representing the government and Barama met last week, to examine the company’s request for a renewal of its Investment Development Agreement, which will expire in October.The Government’s team comprised representatives from the Ministries of Natural Resources, Indigenous People’s Affairs, Business and Public Infrastructure,Cheap China Jerseys, along with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Forestry Commission.“The Government expects to benefit from expert advice from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) to help inform its decision. Formal talks on the matter will commence later this month covering several critical areas of interest,” the Ministry said yesterday.Last September, Minister Raphael Trotman visited the company’s Buck Hall operations to get a first-hand look at the operations and working conditions there. He had said that the government would like to see more value-added production from investors in Guyana and he would ensure that this component is included in any agreement.Talks have started between Government and Barama on a new investment agreement.During that tour in September,Cheap NFL Jerseys China,?General Manager of the company, Mohindra Chand, had said that Barama has been one of the long-standing foreign companies in Guyana and while the challenges were many, it had never considered ceasing operations here.Noting that more than $43 billion has been plugged into its Guyana operations, he said that he expected Barama to grow and further development to take place once the agreement is renewed.?Barama has been operating in Guyana since 1991.With attention being paid to the forest lands, a Barama deal would be a critical to other arrangements that Guyana has with over investors.Government has signalled tougher measures to ensure it receives returns on investments also.Last week, Trotman said that all of Guyana’s productive forests have been given out by the previous Government of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic.Last year,cheap nfl jerseys, Barama said one of its biggest challenges is to acquire skilled workers and raw material.Its factory at Land of Canaan has been supplying plywood, critical to home construction, to the local market and for export.Chand had said that despite its concessions, being around 1.6M hectares,Authentic China Jerseys, the largest forestry concession in the country, its available forest is just about 1.1M hectares, taking into account the rivers and other areas. It is barred from carrying out activities in these areas as part of the environmental safeguards.Annually, Barama said it contributes about $400M in taxes, royalties and other fees. About $1.6B annually is paid out for local service and other goods providers.At least two communities, Port Kaituma in Region One and Buckhall in Region Three, have benefitted significantly.The company said it is not benefitting from special attention.“We are not benefitting now from any duty free concessions. Because of the heavy presence of miners and others on our roadways, we are also seeing our maintenance costs rising. It all impacts at the end of the day on the bottom line.”On that export end, the lack of containers, a shallow Demerara River leading to the wharfs and bureaucratic processing have all contributed to constraints.“Guyana has a rainy season too. It has significantly impacted our operations. It will affect operations as there can be no movement on the roads when the rain falls. We have also been facing delays in transferring monies from Guyana.”Another major factor hampering productivity for Barama is poor forest yields.“It is a fact that a clump of a specific tree species will not be growing in one place for most species. We may find a few in a hectare. So taking the equipment there,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, taking the