Guyana was chosen as the venue for this year’s Laparkan Freight Group of Companies 4th Annual Caribbean Sales Conference at which the Chairman’s Award for the overall top Laparkan station was won by the Guyana Freight Division.
Guyana was selected in recognition and as part of the celebration of Laparkan’s 25th anniversary of serving the Guyanese and Caribbean Diaspora, a press release from the Group of Companies said.
A key part of this event was the award ceremony which was held at the Georgetown Club to recognise the top sales performing individuals and offices across the Laparkan network.
The conference brought together the senior managers and sales personnel from various Laparkan offices across the Caribbean as well as top executives from its North American operations, the release said.
Chairman of the Laparkan Group, Glen Khan, and 30 overseas delegates were hosted by their Laparkan Guyana Freight Division counterparts headed by General Manager Oscar Phillips along with Avinaish Bhagwandin, Group Managing Director of Laparkan Holdings Limited and Clinton Williams, CEO of GNIC (Guyana National Industrial Co. Ltd.) as well as a number of key executives and senior managers.
The Grand Coastal Inn at Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara, was the venue for the two-day sales conference that discussed Laparkan business development models in the context of the dynamic and evolving trade patterns in the region.
According to the release, of particular interest were the new opportunities that have emerged from Panama and the Far East (China and India) trade lanes. “Laparkan is uniquely positioned as a Gold Medallion member of the 2000 strong World Cargo Associates Family of Logistics Networks to bring Guyana and Caribbean customers trade coverage from some 200 countries across the world,” the release stated.
And regionally, the emergence of the Brazil-Guyana corridor for transshipment via Laparkan Trinidad hub is expected to become a strategic business opportunity for the Laparkan Caribbean and North American network, the release stated.
The Chairman in reflecting on the growth of the Laparkan group over the first 25 years indicated significant pride to have grown from a four-person start-up into a 1,200 strong diverse group of companies serving Guyana in 28 markets across the Caribbean basin with strong brand recognition and customer loyalty.
The release said further that Laparkan has successfully crossed over into the Hispanic markets with offices in the Dominican Republic and Panama and dedicated Spanish-speaking staffers in offices in New York.
Laparkan, the release added, is the number one shipper of personal effects into the Caribbean and is moving towards a similar dominance with commercial cargo. This growth strategy is expected to get a significant boost later this year as new Web-based industry software (Cargo Manager) is rolled out across the network. Meanwhile, a recent Money Transfer agreement with the worldwide OMNEX group will allow Laparkan to compete with the major brands and offer a strong intra-Caribbean money transmission opportunity.