It appears that the disappointing response which the government has given to a request from the Florida-based Guyanese-American Chamber of Commerce (GACC) that a subsidy be made available in order to afford participation of a Guyanese contingent in next month’s Florida International Trade & Cultural Expo (FITCE) has triggered a response from the GACC.
Earlier this week, US-based Guyanese-born Director of the (GACC) Melinda Gordon, who is visiting Guyana, told the Stabroek Business that she is hoping to be able to engage the relevant government official (s) on the matter. When we inquired as to the reason for undertaking such a mission her answer was unequivocal. She will be doing so, she says, out of a belief that given what the FITCE can do to further the entrepreneurial fortunes of a number of Guyanese micro and small businesses in the agro-processing, craft and other sectors, Guyana ought not to be missing out on the opportunity. Her rationale is simple. Guyanese who have attended the event previously have, through the quality of their products, given a more than good account of themselves. There is, she says, the obvious potential not just for the creation of building blocks for the considerable growth of small Guyanese businesses, as a whole, but also that there is wider contribution that events like the FITCE can play in the international promotion of Guyana even as the country undergoes important social and physical transformations, In effect, what she hopes to do, we understand, is to seek to persuade the requisite government officials that, overall, the likely returns – both immediate and longer term – from the FITCE for both the individual participants and for Guyana as a whole, is more than worth what would amount to a modest investment in helping a local contingent of small businesses to seek to make a mark on an important international stage.
Whether or not the Ministry of Commerce in its response to the request to government to provide a subsidy to allow for local participation in FITCE 2022 had been aware of the magnitude of the product-promotion opportunity, is unclear. However, having regard to the reputation which the event has had for attracting visitors including potential buyers with a considerable level of interest in products – including both agro-produce and various types of local craft – and the potential for transforming the entrepreneurial fortunes of possibly many more Guyanese small businesses than we might imagine then one wonders whether it may not be wise for government to think again and provide a response within what it considers to be its means and one which, simultaneously, takes account of how much such a gesture might do not just for the immediate beneficiaries but also for the wider small business community, including, of course our agro-processors whose creations have already gotten the attention of the US market. Any enlightening briefing that they might receive arising out of an encounter with Ms. Gordon would be useful.
Finally, there is something to be said for the confidence which the Florida-based GACC and its Guyanese-born Director appear to have in the ability of local small businesses, agro-pro-cessors, craftsmen and women, fashion designers and ‘the lot’ to ‘shine’ on an international stage and to do well on what is one of the world’s most competitive markets. That the Association which has already done much, previously, to support the presence of Guyanese small businesses at the FITCE now appears ready to lobby government in order to ensure that these are afforded further opportunities for possible entrepreneurial breakthroughs is not something that government should overlook.
