Dear Editor,
I have noted the recent news on the drive to export agri products to buyers overseas. I wish those involved good luck. This is nothing new, successive governments have been talking about food sufficiency and the need to earn foreign exchange by exports. I hope the players mean business. Throughout the years they have talked and talked, nothing got done.
One may ask why, simple, the management and dedication was never there. Nobody cared and the farmers suffered. I recently returned from New York and Atlanta where hundreds of thousands of Guyanese live . In these cities one can find small ethnic establishments that cater to the tastes of these people. One can find hundreds of manufactured products from Jamaica, St Lucia, Barbados and Trinidad. Guyana is represented by a few products.
I had a first hand experience of the frustrations to get simple things done. I had two very big guaranteed markets for hot peppers/sauces and fresh fruits. The buyers of the hot sauces wanted over 1 million bottles a month and they were very serious. They based their buying volume on samples I sent, however the entities that were earmarked for export of the same fell flat on their faces, it was most embarassing for me to tell the buyers that Guyana cannot supply. The buyers now buy from the Chinese to fill shelves on their 5000 supermarket outlets. The same buyers wanted passion fruit, sapodillas, starfruit, papayas. Today, Trinidad and Jamaica export millions of US$ in peppers/sauces.
I want to also add that the same buyers wanted 5000 hardwood panel doors a month. The manufacturing concern was told to produce about 6-12 samples to send to the UK. I told the suppliers to bill me and have the samples in two weeks. After over 7 weeks the factory had a few samples ready. This is the kind of commitment I experienced and I told the suppliers to contact me no more.
Since the days of US Ambassador Tull and the CBI seminars the same businesses talked about exports, they are still dreaming. With the exception of Precision Woodworking which is a very professionally run enterprise I cannot think of another which shares its expertise and access to buyers of distinction. Guyana will continue to export raw materials.
Yours faithfully,
Vijay Singh