It was always likely that a change in Guyana’s economic trajectory arising out of the country’s oil discoveries and the opportunities that were bound to derive therefrom would attract investors from across the world, not least from amongst the countries comprising the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
A full two years before May 2015, when news of ExxonMobil’s first oil discovery offshore Guyana was broken to a euphoric Guyanese nation, RAMPS had already set up shop in Guyana. While the company had previously given service to the oil and gas industry, its publicly advertised purpose for being in Guyana was to work with the country’s agricultural sector particularly in the area of providing support for efforts to expand farmers’ external markets.
What had been established, initially, as a modest office in Georgetown, now plays an important role in helping to further grow the agriculture export sector. More than that, RAMPS Logistics has been utilising its experience in providing services to the oil & gas sector in Trinidad and Tobago to provide some services to the sector here, as well.
The company’s founder, Ramnarine Rampersad, an experienced farmer, continues to have an interest in contributing to the growth and development of the agriculture and agro-processing sectors in the region. Accordingly, the company has sought to seize the opportunity afforded by Guyana’s abundance of fruit and vegetables to marry its own proficiencies with what Guyana had to offer. Contributing to the expansion of Guyana’s international market for agro-produce was hardly a difficult choice for it to make. It began providing customs brokerage and freight forwarding services to local companies in the manufacturing, distribution and retail sectors.
While the company continues to have an interest in these pursuits, Guyana’s major oil find, announced in 2015, triggered a ‘shifting of gears’ by its management. It brought its thirty years of experience in the energy sector to bear by recruiting and providing training for the oil & gas sector, thereby positioning the company to broaden its suite of services to Guyana. Among the new services which RAMPS positioned itself to offer were Marine Agency Support, Shorebase Management, and ‘third-party’ services to Guyana’s now emerging energy sector. The initiative allowed the company to provide approximately one hundred (100) jobs to Guyanese.
“When we started in 2013, we started with five persons. Now, some of those same persons are running the day-to-day-operations at our New Market Street Office. Our talented individuals have undergone the necessary training to develop their professional lives and build their capacity to ensure the Company provides the best service,” RAMPS Logistics Chief Executive Officer Shaun Rampersad is on record as saying.
The company, meanwhile, has been focussing on its role as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ‘champion by contributing to orphanages and other entities responsible for the well-being of underprivileged persons, particularly children. In this regard the company has partnered with other entities including Giftland, Republic Bank (Guyana), and other business houses to support the well-being of Guyanese children. “Our work with charitable organisations is one of those ways of ensuring that we ‘give back’,” the company’s CEO says.
Arapaima Logistics, a partnership between RAMPS Logistics and GK Logistics, a subsidiary of the Guyanese aviation company, Roraima Group of Companies, is focussed on working with local farmers and agro-processors to support their production and export pursuits. The new company is also seeking ways of upgrading farming techniques and expanding international market access.
Arapaima Logistics’ marketing arm, CASA, participated in Guyana’s recently staged agri-investment forum at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre which was attended by Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley.
Over time, RAMPS has boasted of having “pioneered the development and integration of technology into its operations to create a brand strong enough to compete with the international players.” The company has managed to expand its network into Mexico, the USA, and Colombia, and is currently seeking to further expand its operations in North America. An outpost has already been established in Suriname and plans are afoot to expand into Brazil.
