The Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) teamed up with Conservation International and the business community to host the first ever business forum at the13th Rupununi Exposition and focused on developing the Region Nine youths’ skills.
A release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said that at the opening at the two-day Expo on November 30, the Chamber’s President, Daniel Gajie explained that the RCCI and the stakeholders had agreed to some principles going forward.
Among the plans in the new year are hosting a career fair and developing a job bank tonurture and develop skills of school leavers to match the needs of businesses in the region.
GINA said that Minister Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai, speaking at the opening, commended the private sector and other stakeholders for their continued support in fostering the development of Region Nine.
She said that every year the RCCI had put quite a lot of effort to ensuring that business opportunities are created and the potential of the Rupununi and Region Nine is promoted.
Sukhai said it was important to recognise such contributions since it was the stakeholders in region who have been taking up the mantle of leadership in moving the region to a higher level of development.
The minister also lauded the banking sector for its level of confidence in supporting development in the region by recognising the economic potential of the Rupununi and opening branches.
She said that the government interfaces with the private sector in the region by continuing to invest in the enabling environment in order to remove some of the challenges to the economy of the region.
This included investments in sectors such as water, electricity and roads.
GINA said that the minister spoke of the continued impact of the annual exposition facilitated by the RCCI with support from the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce.
She said that the expo was critical since it provided a platform whereby small producers, from the Amerindian communities, launch or gain new markets for their produce.
Sukhai handed over a cheque for $500,000 from the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs in support of the event. GINA said that Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority, Indranauth Haralsingh, in praising the RCCI and other stakeholders for their successful hosting of the annual expo, noted that the Rupununi was ‘the heart of Guyana’s tourism product’ and has generated recognition for Guyana.
Haralsingh said the expo was one event that is looked forward to on the Guyana tourism calendar and that the anticipated inaugural Rupununi Music and Art festival planned for February 2014 will break new ground for the region.
