The need for immediate and aggressive diversification of the Berbice economy to have it make a significant mark beyond its already proven agricultural credentials has been emphasized by two senior officials of the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce following the staging of the September 27th – 30th, Fifteenth Berbice Expo and Trade Fair.
During exchanges with the Stabroek Business in interviews that sought to assess the outcomes of the Expo and Trade Fair both President of the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce Mohammed Raffik and Chamber Secretary Bibi Azeez told Stabroek Business that the public enthusiasm for the popular annual event this year was not matched by a display of goods and services that reflected the growth of the region’s economy beyond its traditional agricultural moorings.
Mohammed Raffik
Both officials pointed to the fact that there was virtually no manufacturing at the event this year beyond those ‘guest’ entities from the capital though the Chamber Secretary said that the business community was pinning its hopes on the emergence of a stronger manufacturing response to the completion of a new Industrial Estate at Belvedere which seeks to serve as an incubator for such projects. According to Azeez the completion of the industrial estate could well pave the way for a shift in the complexion of the Corentyne economy, creating diversification opportunities that could complement its agricultural ‘groundings.’ Azeez said that one of the notable features of this year’s Trade Fair and Expo was the fact that outside of the agricultural sector most of the high profile business enterprises represented at the event are headquartered in the capital. It was further noted that while there may have been an expectation that the strength of the region’s agricultural sector may result in a correspondingly robust agro-processing sub sector, that had not been reflected at the Expo.
What now appears to be a certainty that Berbice will get its Industrial Estate sooner rather than later appears, already, to have generated ideas at the business level regarding diversification options. Stabroek Business has learnt that businessmen and Chamber officials may be favouring the creation of a canning factory whose raw material base could be twinned to the region’s agricultural sector though Azeez noted that any initiative to create a strong agro-processing sector in the region will have to be attended by intensive training for farmers whom, she says, may have less than adequate experience in the value-added dimension to the agricultural sector.
Rafeek, meanwhile, told Stabroek Business that it was the Chamber’s expectation that the imminent emergence of the Industrial Site and an accompanying manufacturing incubator will trigger alternative investment pursuits, not least in the agro processing sector.
The running of the Industrial Site at Belvedere is being overseen by the Ministry of Business and earlier this week the Ministry’s Director of Industrial Development Sharon Alexander told the Stabroek Business that the facility is “almost completed” and that services including water, electricity, drainage and roads are already in place. There is as yet no date set for the opening.
The industrial site includes the already constructed Belvedere Incubator Centre. Once this facility becomes operational its management will be assigned to the Small Business Bureau (SBB). Earlier this week the SBB’s Chief Executive Officer Dr. Lowell Porter told Stabroek Business that the Incubator Centre will comprise six Units, two of which will be equipped with agro-processing equipment including packaging and labeling equipment, sealing machines and mills. The remaining four units, he said, will be available for rental to clients for specific periods that will be stipulated in contracts. No date has as yet been set for the opening of the Complex.
