A two-year trade capacity building project is being initiated by the Trade Facilitation Office (TFO) of Canada and the Canadian Executive Services Overseas (CESO) in collaboration with the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA) to increase international market share for local art and craft and artisanal products.
Stabroek Business understands that the initiative will allow access to the Canadian and other markets by craftspeople and artisans under the aegis of the Guyana Art and Craft Association. Small local enterprises, primarily women-led entities, will benefit from access to Canadian trade expertise.
The project, which is being funded by the Partnerships with Canadians branch of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will be executed under the aegis of the TFO/CESO Trade Capacity Building Project 2012 – 2014. A Letter of Agreement was officially signed by the participating entities earlier this month.
Stabroek Business has learnt that the project was created following the creditable showing by local artisanal manufacturers at two trade fairs in Toronto Canada – the Interior Design Show in January and the Agro-Products Expo in May last year.
The TFO was directly involved in the training and preparation of the eight participants—manufacturers of furniture and other items for the North American market.
Following these events in Canada the TFO and CESO maintained contact with the artisans, meeting them in Georgetown last month to assess their progress since their exposure in Canada. The visiting TFO/CESO team also met local fashion designers, agro-processors and apiculturalists, all of whom are on the radar for various forms of support.
TFO Team Leader Brian Mitchell explained that this new two-year programme with local artisans seeks to help participating entities grow their export sales and increase employment opportunities as they expand. The initiative also seeks to improve the capacity of local trade support institutions, including the GMSA to support the work of small and medium-sized entrepreneurial enterprises.
During last month’s fact-finding mission Mitchell confirmed that the quality of goods displayed by the local artisans in Canada last year confirmed the readiness of some local producers to compete on the international market. Part of the two-year initiative will include the possible identification of in-market facilitators to serve as import agents for Guyanese products seeking access to the Canadian market.
