Speaking at a recent CEO Talk hosted by the Suriname Association of Economists (VES), Farsi Khudabux, chief executive of leading local firm Baitali, has delivered a searing critique of Suriname’s deteriorating business climate, warning that law-abiding enterprises are increasingly disadvantaged compared to competitors that cut corners or openly flout existing regulations.
In his presentation, Khudabux outlined five major systemic bottlenecks holding back Suriname’s private sector: businesses are not taken seriously by authorities, weak enforcement of existing laws and regulations, routine violations of public procurement rules, excessive foreign influence over domestic decision-making, and the overuse of limited government funding as an excuse to delay necessary actions for economic development.
“In Suriname today, compliance is punished, and non-compliance pays,” Khudabux stated, adding that the operating environment for legitimate businesses is increasingly taking on the characteristics of the “Wild West.” He explained that unlicensed, unauthorized operations are allowed to continue in multiple sectors without meaningful intervention from regulators.
As a concrete example of this unfair dynamic, Khudabux pointed to the cross-border crushed stone trade between Suriname’s Nickerie district and Guyana. Vessels carrying crushed stone traverse the Corantijn River without required export documentation, notifications to the Suriname Maritime Authority, or payment of mandatory port fees and other legal levies. This creates an immediate cost disadvantage for businesses that follow all regulatory requirements.
The crushed stone market operates on extremely thin margins that depend on high sales volume to generate profit, meaning even small cost differences can drive compliant firms out of the market. Khudabux revealed that Baitali was forced to shut down one of its operations as a direct result of this unfair competition, eliminating 34 jobs in the process.
Khudabux did not limit his criticism to government failures. He also called out Suriname’s organized private sector for failing to present a unified, strong front to advocate for fair rules. Business associations, he argued, have a responsibility not only to represent member interests but also to hold the government accountable for its commitments. He cited widespread late payments to contracted businesses by the government, sudden unannounced policy shifts, and unnecessarily lengthy permit approval processes as common issues that industry groups accept too passively. When the government breaks its agreements, Khudabux said, trade associations often respond only with mild, cautious statements, a practice he labeled “baking sweet buns” – or avoiding tough confrontation. “We need to get serious about doing business in Suriname, even when that means holding the government accountable,” he said.
On the topic of public procurement, Khudabux was equally sharp, noting that the government’s own procurement rules are routinely ignored from the initial publication tender periods through to bid evaluation and final contract awards. He called this situation particularly contradictory amid widespread official rhetoric about boosting local content and supporting domestic enterprises. “A country cannot claim it wants to strengthen local businesses on one hand, then allow those same firms to be disadvantaged by broken procurement rules and unequal competitive conditions on the other,” he said.
Khudabux also raised alarms about the outsized influence of foreign financial institutions and donors on Suriname’s national decision-making. He highlighted an infrastructure case where a foreign financier pressured the Surinamese government after a domestic court issued a final ruling, arguing that foreign funding must never be placed above the authority of Suriname’s own legal system.
Khudabux emphasized that his critique was not intended as a simple list of complaints, but as a call for systemic change aligned with a broader vision for a healthier Surinamese economy. A thriving business climate requires more than just capital and headline GDP growth, he argued: it depends above all on predictable policy, a level playing field for all enterprises, independent public institutions, and consistent enforcement of the rule of law. This, Khudabux added, also requires a cultural shift within the private sector itself. Rather than waiting for problems to resolve themselves, local business leaders must come together to demand clear, equal rules for all market participants and hold the government to its own commitments. “This is not complaining,” he stressed. “This is a call to action.”