The Government is moving to establish a trade point in Guyana which will allow small and medium enterprises to have access to global markets.
This disclosure was made yesterday by outgoing Vice-Chairman of the Private Sector Commission Ramesh Dookhoo, who was speaking at the Commission’s Annual General Meeting, which was held at Duke Lodge, Kingston. He said that “the Government, through the Go-Invest and under the auspices of the national competitiveness strategy has started the process of establishing the trade point.”
According to Dookhoo, “a trade point is designed to support small and medium enterprises’ access to the global market” and he explained that they “come together through the World Trade Point Federation.” He said that the Global Trade Point Network is made up of more than 80 individual trade points in over 70 countries. He said that “it is an efficient e-platform and could be an invaluable asset for enterprises in Guyana which want to establish or extend their presence in the international market place, especially SMEs.” According to him, “the network facilitates rapid and targeted communication among Trade Points for the benefit of their customers and increases the reliability of the information received. “
Dookhoo said that “Go-Invest and the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce have engaged the services of a consultant to operationalise Trade Point Georgetown and the expected date of the formal launch is in December of this year. However, Small and medium enterprises will be able to experiment with Trade Point by October, when trial runs will be started, Dookhoo explained.
The outgoing Vice-Chairman pointed out that the Trade Point will be known as Trade Point Georgetown. He explained that it is a requirement of the World Trade Point Federation that all trade points must have the name of the city, where its headquarters is located.
“By consolidating its role in increasing the participation of small and medium enterprises in international trade, the World Trade Point Federation seeks to touch on wider economic development issues right through to poverty reduction,” the outgoing Vice-Chairman stated.
Dookhoo, however, pointed out that the service will not only be Georgetown-based. He said that ”Go-Invest intends to ensure that the coverage will be widespread across the country and is attempting to identify potential partners for the intra-Guyana network.”
“In designing Trade Point Georgetown, Go-Invest is taking a collaborative and demand driven approach”, Dookhoo stated. He added that “interviews are being held with all the major stakeholders in the trade support system in Guyana including the Bureau of Standards, the Food and Drug Department, Plant Health Department, and Customs.” Discussions are also being held with private and public sector support organisations such as the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association, the Arts and Craft Producers Association, the Agro Processors Association, the Small Business Association and the Forestry Products Council.
The Global Trade Point Network is made up of more than 80 individual trade points in over 70 countries. It is an efficient e-platform and could be an invaluable asset for enterprises in Guyana which want to establish or extend their presence in the international market place, especially SMEs. The network facilitates rapid and targeted communication among Trade Points for the benefit of their customers and increases the reliability of the information received.
