As markedly ramped up bilateral ties between Guyana and Suriname arising out of their new-found oil resources unfold, relations at the level of the private sector on both sides would also appear to be growing. On February 28 a Memorandum Of Cooperation, Business Development and Investment Promotion was signed two entities from the respective countries, the Together We Win Business Network from Guyana and the Association of Small & Medium-Sized Companies) of Suriname, committing the two sides to a number of initiatives that seek to strengthen relations at the level of the private sector even as Georgetown and Paramaribo move to consolidate relations at the government to government level.
Listed as the “key deliverables” that are expected to materialize out of the pact signed between the two entities are direct trade, business development, strategic alliances, joint ventures, joint investments and joint internationalization including specific strategies to capture the potential of Guyanese and Surinamese in the diaspora. As well as to attract diaspora investments. The two entities have also agreed to “work on knowledge enhancement of their member by offering specific executive training programmes through third parties.”
The MOU says that among the main objective of the partnership are to “provide a “low-barrier” platform for interaction between Suriname and Guyana entrepreneurs” and to “gain mutual insights about doing business in each other’s countries.” The agreement also commits the two sides to “working together to create an awareness about the capabilities and potentials of Suriname and Guyana as business and investment destinations for companies in both countries.”
The Agreement between the two private sector entities from Guyana and Suriname comes on the heels of a significant stepping up of relations at the government to government to government level, characterized by visits by Presidents Irfan Ali and Chandrika Santoki to Paramaribo and Georgetown, respectively, and the realization of a number of understandings between the two countries with regard to possible areas of cross-border cooperation the will redound to the benefit of both countries in their oil and gas era.
facilitate the establishment of partnerships and joint ventures between entrepreneurs from Suriname, Guyana and the diaspora and to create alliances and other forms of business formulas with the aim of enabling both countries to increase their production, productivity, quality management and export capabilities. Further, the agreement makes room for “short Tailored Executive Training and Education Programmes in areas such as global entrepreneurship, market entry strategies, business etiquettes, International business protocol, international cultural intelligence, management of sports among others.
Meanwhile, the agreement also allows for the two sides to access services that will allow either side to work, through external consultants to secure “project finance, grants and other forms of solutions to enable the development of projects across sectors.
