Guyana’s first ever International Building Expo concluded at the National Stadium, Providence on Monday, August 9th with exhibitors hailing the event as a worthwhile opportunity to significantly step up the marketing of the various products and services associated with the current aggressive promotion of a national home ownership drive.
While the four-day event with its mix of service booths, food and drinks court and, to a lesser extent, craft stalls, bore a striking resemblance to the annual GuyExpo, private sector exhibitors in the banking, construction, manufacturing and accessories and equipment supplies sectors told Stabroek Business that they detected a greater sense of earnestness in the enquiries made by the estimated 30,000 visitors to the exhibition.
If the assessments of local commercial banks represented at the event are anything to go by, what the Building Expo revealed is that government’s current acceleration of its land distribution programme in the housing sector has triggered a renewed interest in home ownership, particularly among ordinary Guyanese. On Sunday, the penultimate day of the housing Expo, the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) was reporting a raft of earnest enquiries from prospective first-time home owners. Shaleeza Shaw, the bank’s Credit Manager succinctly summed up the essence of the event, pointing out that it provided, among things, an opportunity for providers of goods and services in the sector to place on public display the complementary materials and services necessary for the pursuit of home building and home renovation. From GBTI’s particular perspective Shaw volunteered that the bank’s booth elicited “an overwhelming response, particularly for low-income loans. People generally want to build their own homes and they want to know what makes them eligible for housing loans,” she added. Up to Sunday, the penultimate day of the event, Shaw estimated that the bank had secured more than 350 serious enquiries about low-income housing loans and other home-building and home-renovation concerns. The bank estimates that up to 50 per cent of those enquiries could be followed up by visits to its branches. Shaw says that GBTI would consider its participation in the event well worth the while if the enquiries translate into actual disbursement of loans.
Republic Bank’s Marketing and Communications Manager Michelle Johnson also found merit in the bank’s participation in the Building Expo, pointing out that the interaction with visitors to its booth afforded service staff a keener insight into the needs of prospective home owners. Johnson told Stabroek Business that the bank’s booth saw “a steady flow” of visitors with various mortgage financing needs. “We were able to promote our three residential mortgage products, low cost mortgages for construction of low cost homes and/or purchase of land; Republic Easy Home Loans for the more upscale residential construction, purchase, renovation or construction and the Home Equity Loan where the equity in a home can be used to finance home improvements, consumer acquisitions and major medical expenses.”
Housing Minister Irfaan Ali told Stabroek Business that he had envisaged the creating of linkages between consumer needs for building-related products and services and bank financing would be one of the significant outcomes of the 4-day event. “We created the linkage. We opened up new opportunities and new exposure for business,” the Housing Minister told Stabroek Business. Pointing to his Ministry’s satisfaction with what it sees as the role of the Building Expo in creating linkages that embraced service entities and Guyanese involved in building homes, the Minister said that the idea of making the Expo an annual event is now under consideration in his Ministry. `
Proprietor of Cummings Electrical Ltd. Michael Cummings told Stabroek Business that he too was impressed with the role which the event had played in bringing service providers and consumers together. “A lot of people didn’t know much about us before. They knew about the company being a contractor but not as one involved in the procurement and sale of all types of electrical equipment,” Cummings said. Just one day following the opening of its display booth, sales of modest, home-related electrical items soared. In the last six months we averaged around $73,000 per day in sales – except for large single items such as industrial generators. In small items today ITuesday) alone we recorded $363,000 in sales of items like bulbs and other lighting fixtures,” Cummings said.
Contractor Ivor Allen whose company constructed the $3m model houses for the Ministry of Housing told Stabroek Business that following the closure of the event on Monday evening he had received at least fifty calls about the 20×26 ft three-bedroom houses, 400 of which are scheduled to be built by the Ministry of Housing next year for low-income families. Allen has been busy referring callers both to the Ministry of Housing and, in cases of mortgage enquiries, to commercial banks.
Closer to the upper end of the housing market, Ryan Shivraj, Project Manager for Buddy’s was showing off the company’s $2.5m two-storey, three-bedroom house built specifically for the Building Expo. An additional $2.5m will bring the buyer an additional bedroom. Stabroek Business learnt that the Buddy’s design will become part of gated communities on the East Coast and East Bank Demerara, with the homes at the latter location costing $25m. The exhibition model home which, attracted an estimated 10,000 visitors over the period of the Building Expo, arguably the largest number of visitors to any single exhibit, is being regarded by the investor as a significant success. Shivraj told Stabroek Business that what impressed visitors was the opportunity which the full-size construction afforded for visitors to secure an actual picture of exactly what their purchase would look like. Shivraj said that several overseas-based Guyanese have already expressed an interest in acquiring the houses.
Not surprisingly, a number of local merchants offering furnishings and home appliances seized the opportunity afforded by the Building Expo to display their goods. Exhibitors displayed items ranging from high-end living room furniture and bathroom suites to fitted cupboards and these too proved popular with visitors to the event. Naresh Umrow, Manager of M. Umrow and Sons, whose establishment turned out an impressive display of bath tubs, saunas and aquaria said that for his own establishment the Building Expo afforded the opportunity to “show off” food quality at affordable prices. “Because of the way people responded we know that they will be coming to us to buy,” Umrow said.
