The Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA) is seeking to generate local private sector interest in participating in the Third China/Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum scheduled for Trinidad and Tobago later this year.
The disclosure comes on the heels of a declaration made by GMSA President Clinton Williams that members of the association must begin to look outward for business opportunities rather than simply confine themselves to the local market. China is generally considered by business enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean as offering some of the best possibilities for trade and economic cooperation at the level of the private sector and the move to attract local entrepreneurs to the twin island republic is designed to establish links which are hoped will lead to the expansion of the local manufacturing sector.
GMSA President Clinton Williams has hinted that he is seeking to bring a new sense of urgency to the work of the GMSA and reports from the association indicate that much of that focus will centre around efforts to take advantage of bilateral trade and economic activities afforded by opportunities like the China/Caribbean Business forum as well as bilateral and multilateral support vehicles aimed at “fuelling growth in the business sector in Guyana” afforded by institutions like the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Inter American Development Bank (IDB)
The local manufacturing sector has already benefited from a CIDA-funded Capacity Building Project under which eight local companies have received ISO 9001 certification, equipping them to access markets in North America and Europe for agricultural and other locally produced commodities. Amazon Caribbean (AMCAR) the local producer and exporter of heart of palm and pineapples was the most recent entity to receive ISO certification. Under the CIDA-funded project terminals in Port Georgetown providing maritime services are becoming compliant with international port inspection requirements
CIDA initiatives are also seeking to improve the export readiness of local producers by undertaking projects aimed at raising standards of labelling and packaging to meet international market requirements. The GMSA has disclosed that two Guyanese benefited from training offered by the Canadian Executive Services Overseas (CESO) which enabled them to conduct sensitization programmes for local agro processors aimed meeting the labelling and packaging requirements of the export market. Local producers in Georgetown, East and West Coast Demerara and Essequibo have already benefited from these sessions and producers in Bartica are likely to get excess to the programme this year.
Stabroek Business understands that local manufacturers will also benefit from the recruitment by CESO of two additional local experts who will work in collaboration with the GMSA on a three-year programme that will focus on institutional strengthening and capacity building in the area of identifying and taking advantage of external trade and investment opportunities. The two additional CESO recruits have already begun work with the agro-processing, forestry and wood products sub-sectors. Business owners in the gold industry will also benefit from the expertise of a third CESO expert later this year.
The IDB, meanwhile, is funding a US$1.5 million Environmental Protection Promotion and Training Project (2011) that aims to equip participating enterprises for
certification.
The GMSA can also be credited with the creation of a partnership with the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) last year which, through links with the Brazilian small business support organization SEBRAE, implemented a market intelligence and trade promotion facility. The initiative has made possible the pursuit of a number of market studies with funding from SEBRAE which will focus on market studies to be conducted by seven enterprises each from Guyana and northern Brazil aimed at determining the feasibility of various types of trade and economic enterprises between the two countries. Almost sixty new tariff lines were approved in 2009 under the Brazil/Guyana Partial Scope Agreement. These include rum, flour, cement and pharmaceuticals.
The GMSA, meanwhile, is calling for the early implementation of the Single Window Automated Processing System (SWAPS) designed to substantially reduce transaction time locally for trade transactions, thereby enhancing trans-border trade. Further, it seeks the empowerment of agencies like Go-Invest to act as clearing houses for services associated with the establishment of new businesses including trade in services. The association is also advocating the establishment of export promotion zones (EPZs) to accelerate export processes.
The World Bank Business Index ranks Guyana at 113 out of 181 countries in terms of the time, cost and number of procedures associated with completing trade transactions.
