GuyExpo 2014 was officially launched last evening with a call by Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Irfaan Ali for bold decision-making in the face of risks to drive major transformation in the country.
Under the theme “Transformation: Partnership for a Better Guyana,” this year’s GuyExpo features more than 400 booths and the highest participation of overseas businesses, with a total of 56 booths and in excess of 118 delegates.
Speaking on the theme, Ali said during his address at the opening at the Sophia Exhibition Complex that transformation must be “bold” and “risk averse.”
“Transformation itself requires critical thinking; we cannot be static and be a part of a transformational process. We must be able to think, act, and work beyond what seems confined boundaries that can limit the development of our country,” Ali said. He continued, “In thinking in a transformational manner, we must be bold; we cannot be risk averse. And boldness in decision-making must never be compromised; boldness in decision making is a critical tool in the advancement of any society…The time has come for us to understand that good decisions, good policies, major transformation comes with risk.”
Ali also announced that GuyExpo features the launch of a new factory, which will allow Guyana to produce its own rice cereal on the international market, under the branding “Rice Brekkies.” He emphasised that there will be more investments in all sectors of Guyana, without the shortchanging of any one.
Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Ramesh Persaud noted the integral role the partnership between the private sector and the government played in the fostering of transformation.
The theme of this year’s GuyExpo has resonated with the PSC, he said. “The private sector is justly proud of being a significant contributing partner in Guyana’s development to date… and we in the private sector are optimistic of our potential and future. Look around you in this complex and you will see the beaming optimism displayed by the entrepreneurs in Guyana.”
Persaud continued, “It is the private sector… that drives the growth and the effective transformation of the economy. The public sector and private sector are therefore necessary partners for development and transformation.” However, he pointed out, transformation should not merely be economic but must also branch out into other sectors such as health and education.
Persaud further noted that the participation of overseas businesses is a good indicator of the optimism held for Guyana’s potential for transformation.
Also speaking at the opening was Trinidadian parliamentarian Mervyn Assam, who lauded Guyana’s efforts and expressed his hopes for further partnership between the two countries.
He too noted that transformation must be multisectoral. “It is important for us to understand that transformation has to be holistic in its approach,” Assam said before adding, “’Cause when you transform you have to take into account all the factors that will hinder transformation or propel transformation… all of these things have to be put in the pot to bring about total transformation because if we continue to do the same things the same way, we will get the same results.
But if we make an effort to ensure that what we do, we do differently–we do more efficiently, we do more competitively, we do more productively–then our future is ensured.”
Transformation, Assam further noted, will not only benefit one country but the entire region. “The partnership that we are talking about for a better Guyana will be a partnership for an improved, sustained and developed Caricom,” he said.
This year, Assam was accompanied by more than two dozen other delegates.
Meanwhile, President Donald Ramotar called for transformation in the lives of Guyanese through the offering of higher paying jobs for young people along with a better quality of life for all Guyanese. He believes that partnerships are crucial advocates for change.
“To achieve this transformation, we need more developed infrastructure so that we can rapidly industrialise our country and transform it,” Ramotar said. He went on, “And this is the kind of partnership that we are talking about; a partnership in which we are helping to create the basis, the foundation to facilitate rapid social and economic development of our country.”
The president further stated that the government of Guyana is working on a number of projects which have garnered investments worth at about $2.5 billion. These investments, he said, are spread across different sectors of the economy.
GuyExpo, hailed as Guyana’s premiere trade fair and exposition, will continue until Sunday.
