00:00With government assuring that the country's fiscal package will be delivered in early October,
00:06AmCham CEO Nirad Tiwari tells the TV6 Morning Edition that while successive administrations
00:13have expanded the number of services available through the single electronic window, far more can be done.
00:20He is urging that the customs process be fully automated to improve efficiency and strengthen trade facilitation
00:28while enhancing the ease of doing business here.
00:31In terms of going online, we're hopeful that the immigration process will be fully digitized within the coming months
00:38and we move away from these paper forms and long lines and so on.
00:42The entire Caribbean has moved away from it.
00:45We are probably the last of the countries that require paper forms and that should be a national shame
00:51and we need to move away from those kinds of things.
00:54He also notes the adjustments he wants to see at customs.
00:58It's my hope that we're going to hear something in the budget about making all customs payments due
01:05that these would be able to be done electronically or online,
01:11whether it be through transfer of funds or through debit and credit cards.
01:17I'm optimistic that we hear something about that.
01:20I hope we do.
01:21And that will help with that end of the process.
01:24We're recommending a Professional Standards Bureau and Customs to weed out the few bad actors
01:29and allow the good customs officers to continue doing their jobs.
01:34The AmCham CEO says government must step back from trying to micromanage the economy
01:40and instead focus on regulation and protecting the public interest.
01:45He warns that foreign exchange shortages are the result of artificial market conditions
01:52and urges that if the U.S. dollar were priced by true market forces, demand and supply would naturally balance.
02:01The problem is that at some point could be $1 away from where we are, or it could be $10 away from where we are.
02:10And if it is the latter, it creates a lot of other economic pressures.
02:15And so that's why I'm saying you need a mix of policies to move us from this state of virtual inertia
02:22to a state of greater balance and you need collaboration and constant dialogue.
02:28According to Tuari, addressing only the symptoms of the country's economic challenges will ultimately make them worse,
02:37warning that the medicine may in the end harm the patient more than the disease itself.
02:43He adds that government must also tighten its grip on businesses with outstanding taxes.
02:49Use GIS data, identify all the businesses in a geographic location, all the professional services.
02:56Compare that with those who are paying taxes and those who are not.
03:00And when you overlay that, then go to those who are non-compliant and bring them into the tax net.
03:08If we have a $9 billion tax leakage and you bring in $3 billion of that, it's a significant bump to the economy.
03:15Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:19Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:20Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:21Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:22Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:23Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:24Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:25Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:26Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:27Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:28Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:29Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:30Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:31Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:32Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:33Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:34Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:35Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
03:36Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
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