Energy, ICT, construction and healthcare are listed among the high priority sectors that will feature at this year’s April 12-13 United States/Caribbean Business Conference, according to information released recently by the South Florida District Export Council (SFDEC).
The disclosure that energy, particularly, will feature prominently as a key agenda item at the conference’s deliberations is likely to be of particular interest to Guyana though the government here has not yet disclosed whether it intends to send an official delegation to the event.
With social and economic developments in the Caribbean attracting an increasingly higher level of interest among various audiences in the United States, the SFDEC has made public its outline of plans for the staging of the event this year at the Hilton Miami Airport Blue Lagoon.
The collaborative event involving, as well, the US Commercial Service, is being staged, a release said, to help participating companies from the Caribbean access opportunities across the United States.
This year’s US/Caribbean Business Conference will position participants to secure access to up-to-date market intelligence to help develop practical strategies for winning procurements and for exporting their goods and services. In addition, the event is likely to be used by some participants from the Caribbean to forge links with partners in the United States in order to expand existing markets in the US and create new ones for products originating in the Caribbean. This year, however, developments like the creation of investment opportunities in the Caribbean arising particularly out of oil-driven transformed economic direction are likely to be on the event’s agenda.
Opportunities for high-level discussion on the strengthening of public and private ties in areas of trade and investment could also arise on what the planners of the forum said will be a bilateral programme that will include the presence of “US diplomats, industry professionals, trade experts, international business experts, high-level government officials and seasoned exporters – with plenty of opportunity for networking.”
To date, there has been no official confirmation of Guyana’s participation in the event and though it is expected that it will also provide opportunities for small businesses from Guyana and elsewhere in the region to market their produce in the US. Local officials have told the Stabroek Business that the Florida event may offer a timely forum for the promotion of investment opportunities in Guyana arising out of what is now an oil-driven economy.
Several small business operators who customarily seize the marketing opportunities provided by the US/Caribbean Business Conference said the government could help by financing a strong, local small business presence in Florida in April.
Discourses that will take place during the event will address issues including finding the best markets for products across the Caribbean and what infrastructure development opportunities for businesses in the region might arise.
Information disseminated on the April forum indicates that the event also provides an opportunity for US firms interested in expanding their business in the Caribbean to secure investment-related information from Caribbean officials who are expected to be in Florida for the event.
