-says consumers vulnerable to inferior Chinese goods
`I challenge the importers of these goods to run the warranties on them. There are no warranties on many of these products. They are being imported ex-warehouse as dumped products. The manufacturers want to get rid of them quickly and cheaply’
Fibre Tech Industries Ltd. has launched a major marketing offensive in the Caribbean and the company’s Chief Executive Officer Somat Ali has told Stabroek Business that he is confident that the company’s products will do well in the region.
“We have done our market research in the Caribbean and we are satisfied that our products will hold their own with similar products imported from outside the region.” Ali said.
The Mon Repos-based firm which manufactures decorative home furnishings using fibre glass as its base said that Fibre Tech is now nearing recovery from a 1994 fire which destroyed the premises and that the company was now seeking to satisfy both local and regional markets for its products.
Ali said that he had spent much of the past fourteen years seeking to rebuild capacity following the fire that destroyed the company’s premises and much of its machinery. “Part of what has kept us out of the regional market during that period was the fact that we did not have the storage space. We are in the process of crossing that hurdle and we are optimistic that we can do well in the Caribbean,” Ali said.
Fibre Tech has already begun exporting its products to Suriname and Ali told Stabroek Business that his company was targeting the hotel and tourism sector in the rest of the region in order to make serious inroads into the market for bathroom, kitchen and patio furniture and appliances.
Meanwhile, Ali, who remigrated to Guyana in 1993, told Stabroek Business that he was concerned that Guyana was being used as a “dumping ground” for cheap sub-standard imports “which cannot be sold to many other countries because of the standards laws,” that apply in those countries. “What is happening is that because those standards block the importation of these goods, mainly Chinese goods, this country has become a dumping ground. “I challenge the importers of these goods to run the warranties on them. There are no warranties on many of these products. They are being imported ex-warehouse as dumped products. The manufacturers want to get rid of them quickly and cheaply.” Ali said that the practice of importing “cheaper and inferior goods into Guyana” from elsewhere meant that local manufacturers were being stifled. “More than that we have a situation in which consumers are spending considerable sums of money for items that are not lasting,” Ali said.
The Fibre Tech Managing Director told Stabroek Business that he was concerned that imported products similar to those manufactured by his company were being “sold as Fibre Tech products” to unsuspecting consumers. “Not only are these products – which are made of acrylic – not manufactured by Fibre Tech; more than that we have people who call us asking that we fix them when they break. They cannot be fixed. In many instances they end up removing those units and replacing them with one of our own,” Ali said.
Ali gave Stabroek Business the names of some establishments, including local hotels, which he said were now seeking to replace imported units with products manufactured by Fibre Tech. Ali said that he was prepared to provide his clients with the same warranties that are being offered on similar products imported from abroad.
Ali told Stabroek Business that he was also concerned that “these cheap imports are contributing nothing to the Guyana economy. Neither in taxes nor in employment are we getting any real return from these imports. The Chinese who open their establishments here may employ a few Guyanese but it really does not amount to much when you take account of the volume of business that they are doing,” Ali said.
The Fibre Tech Managing Director told Stabroek Business that while he was not seeking to strike an anti-investor posture, “we need to ensure that people who we welcome as investors actually give something to the Guyana economy in terms of taxes, jobs and real investment in the country. Additionally, where these investors are allowed to make goods and services available to consumers we need standards to which they have to adhere. We need strong consumer protection laws. We need a strong consumer protection body. Where is that body?
Meanwhile, Ali told Stabroek Business that Fibre Tech is planning an exhibition of its products in Georgetown in November. “We understand the economic climate and part of our focus will be on displaying durable, attractive but, nonetheless, affordable items.”