The government of Canada will in the future become a major investor in Guyana, Canadian High Commissioner Charles Court told a group of local entrepreneurs yesterday, urging them to look to exporting agriculture and aquaculture products to that country.
This, he said, was in keeping with the Canadian government’s recognition of the importance of developing countries having access to international markets and their intention to assist these nations.
Court was speaking at a forum hosted by the Canadian High Commission with the objective of providing pertinent information to local entrepreneurs interested in doing business in Canada or with Canadian companies. The commissioner said Guyana and Canada have good trading relations and contrary to popular belief, Guyana currently exports more items to Canada than it imports from that country.
The commissioner also said that in spite of the economic crises currently plaguing several countries including the USA, Canada had “a pretty stable economic climate.”
This view was furthered by Senior Trade Commissioner Joshua Hodgson who highlighted several advantages of doing business in Canada. He said that over the last ten years the country has had a very low inflation rate, and consequently a very stable economy. Another significant fact, he said, was that statistics revealed that Canada has the most secure banking sector in the world.
Hodgson identified another major advantage as being that persons can start a business in Canada in five days — the shortest number of days in any of the G-7 countries. Meanwhile, he also identified the country as having the most educated workforce in the world where 54% have at least a tertiary education. He said the nation has a superior growth in employment. He identified a highly competitive business environment and an overall tax advantage for firms as two other advantages.
Meanwhile, Ronald Bollman, the Trade Consul-tant of Canadian Executive Services Organisation, highlighted particular markets that Guyanese businesses can target. He identified agriculture (particularly fresh fruits and vegetables) and aquaculture as two of the areas where much potential exists. Currently Guyana’s number one export to Canada is gold, followed by alcohol.
He also suggested that Guyanese export managers needed to be exposed to further training. And suggested that a special programe known as the ‘Forum for International Trade Training (FITT)’, should be made available to the local managers.
Meanwhile, those Guyanese interested in engaging Canadian business were urged to register their business on the website www.tfocanada.ca. Phillip Kelly of the Trade Facilitation Office in Canada, suggested that this was a very effective way of fostering better relationships between Canadian and Guyanese businesses. He said this way, companies could learn more about each other without incurring any costs.
Those who attended were also informed about advantages of doing business in Ontario and Nova Scotia, two of the major cities in Canada.