Trinidadian manufacturers yesterday lamented that non-tariff barriers were hampering imports of agricultural produce from Guyana and called on the political directorate to clear the hurdles.
“Our import is TT$6B and Guyana is professing it can feed the entire region. There is also Belize and Suriname they have the (land) mass to do it… Why can’t we source the tomatoes from [Guyana] to make the tomato paste? It is not that the private sector in Trinidad don’t want it to come to Trinidad. The political directorate needs to get these things right,” Chief Executive Officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA), Dr Mahindra Ramdeen said yesterday during a ‘Welcome to Guyana’ session at the Ramada Princess Hotel.
Representatives from 23 Trini-dadian companies are participating.
“Why [is] meat coming from all over the place and we can source the meat right in the region. We need the political directorate to get it right for us, just get it right for us…because if they do, Guyana and Trinidad and Barbados and Jamaica and …all of us will prosper,” he added.
The TTMA CEO emphasized that manufacturers in his home country want to import produce from Guyana but they could not currently “because phytosanitary and sanitary measures are curtailing the pace of the trade.”
“The private sector cannot remove those things, it is CARICOM, it is COTED, it is the ministers and prime ministers,” he noted.
For years, Georgetown has argued that the Trinidadian authorities have placed non-tariff barriers on the imports of produce from Guyana in a bid to source the items from other places. These matters have frequently come up at the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and at the bilateral level without resolution.
And while Guyana is now an oil and gas producing country and many businesses in the twin island republic are looking to tap into that sector, the TTMA believes that there are even more opportunities for investment in the non-oil sector.
Ramdeen said that it was President Irfaan Ali who made the investment pitch to Trinidad and Tobago investors last year and that was the driving force behind the current trade mission’s visit.
Ramdeen pointed out that the TTMA was no stranger to Guyana as they have participated in GuyExpo and Guyanese business persons would usually attend events organized by the TTMA.
“This is just a continuation of us looking to build on the trade market in the Caribbean. Guyana is an important market to Trinidad, to Barbados to … we want to maintain that for us in Trinidad and Tobago. Outside of that, there is a lot of opportunity for sourcing raw materials from Guyana and taking it to Trinidad, to enhance and build the manufacturing sector in Trinidad and Tobago.
“But we need to resolve the trade issues so we can prosper. In that way, Guyana can sell their products to Trinidad, to Barbados, to Jamaica…we have no restrictions in wanting to bring goods from Guyana to T&T. Our import is TT$6b and is coming from extra-regional sources. We want to reduce that. Rising tides raise all ships and we want all ships to raise”, he added.
The visit of the manufacturers comes amid a row over the state of the Trinidadian economy which was triggered by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and saw a complaint by Port-of-Spain’s Foreign Minister Dr Amery Browne to his counterpart here. The war of words has also drawn in business bodies in both Trinidad and Guyana.
Database
Ramdeen said that the TTMA has created a database of profiles of its members and is seeking to match them with businesses here that are seeking investment partners.
“We have a consultant and they will see how best they can do the match-making,” he said.
That consultant is Trinidadian company RAMPS Logistics.
Only recently RAMPS logistics cemented a partnership with the Roraima-owned Arapaima Logistics Inc which the two companies say will serve as a “critical resource to provide logistics and supply chain solutions locally, regionally and internationally.”
According to a release issued by the two companies the joint venture aims to foster an environment in which Guyanese companies will utilize local skills and resources to better position the country to compete on local markets.
RAMPS has been operating in Guyana since 2013. Its Vice President of Regional Initiatives, Rudy Rampersaud says that RAMPS looks forward to ensuring that the company, through its involvement with Arapaima continues to make critical and relevant inputs in the interest of Guyana and the wider Caribbean.
Over time, RAMPS has expanded its network in the Caribbean and the hemisphere to reach various countries including Barbados, Mexico, the USA and Colombia.
During an interview with the Stabroek Business, Arapaima Director Gerry Gouveia Jr had informed that that the company will be seeking to make inroads into the Brazilian and South American markets.
One T&T businessman and engineer told this newspaper yesterday that while the current visit is for manufacturers, he came to see what investment opportunities are available in his area.
“The TTMA promotes and they decided to set up this trade mission and their members invited other business persons. One might say this is a manufacturer’s trade mission but I am an engineer by profession and asked why would I come. At the end of the day these are all needed. I came down to see if I can establish relations with locals…we came down to meet local firms so we maybe can partner with them,” Harricharran Maharaj of Consulting Engineers Partnership (CEP) said.
Further, he explained, “What the TTMA did was send out a profile request of what or who we would like to meet and consulted with a consultant in Guyana who would meet the respective requirements of the various participants . I wanted to meet contractors who are doing designing and build. Consultants from the construction industry and those are the types of persons I would like to meet initially. That is what I told them in my profile request and those are who I hope to meet. “
He said that he is optimistic about the prospects as Guyana was the new investment hub.
TTMA’s CEO echoed this position when he told the mission that Guyana is “the Singapore of the Caribbean”.
