Local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are being afforded the opportunity to boost their profile and attend trade shows thanks to the collaboration between trade centres in Guyana and the US.
The World Trade Center (WTC) Georgetown in a release yesterday announced that on Thursday, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with World Trade Center, Miami, Florida, which will pave the way for advancing the interests of small- and medium-size enterprises to take advantage of trade and investment opportunities, including participation by Guyanese enterprises in the annual international Food and Beverage Show of the Americas, to be held later this year in Miami.
According to the release, the signing ceremony took place at WTC’s Miami office and was inked by WTC Miami President and Chief Executive Officer, Ivan Barrios and WTC Georgetown Executive Director Wesley Kirton. Here, the two organisations outlined the scope of their intended collaboration to include market intelligence and research; support for business to business networking; trade policy information sharing; development of strategies for mutual market access for products and services; training and capacity building; and the exchange of trade and investment missions.
Chairman of Demerara Distillers Ltd and Chairman of WTC Georgetown, Komal Samaroo, attended the ceremony virtually. In his remarks he emphasised that the World Trade Center in Guyana has a “critical” role to play in promoting trade with Guyanese businesses and the rest of the world.
“So I believe our two world trade centers working together can further enhance and increase the level of trade that takes place now between Guyana and the US and particularly at this time as countries look more at their food security, supply chain, on shoring, nearing shoring and all these adjustments that are taking place.”
He noted that the Food and Beverage Show of the Americas is of particular interest to Guyana as several legitimate small- and medium-size food producers seek overseas markets.
Meanwhile, Barrios announced that resulting from the MoU, a group of small Guyanese food producers who might not be ready to exhibit could participate in this year’s show free of cost thereby benefitting from the networking opportunities as well as meetings and the conference component of the event. These producers, the release advised, will have to satisfy certain conditions including recommendation by WTC Georgetown.
Barrios also advised that there will be a kitchen at the show to facilitate how products are used to prepare various dishes and that Guyana is welcome to have a chef participate to demonstrate how specific Guyanese dishes are prepared.
Vice President of World Trade Center, Miami, Alicia Ancona welcomed Guyana’s participation in the event, whether it’s Guyanese businesses exhibiting their products or just visiting to network.
“That’s something that we work with countries that have not yet been at the show. We encourage them to visit. We meet with them beforehand; we do tours beforehand… to have the opportunity to meet with potential partners as they explore either entering the US market or exporting globally.”
And thanking WTC Miami for working with WTC Georgetown on the MoU and its eventual signing, Kirton described the memorandum as “providing a platform for mutually beneficial strategic initiatives which can benefit micro, small and medium size enterprises. We must ensure we maximize the potential of this new relationship.”
WTC Georgetown will arrange an outreach to food and beverage manufacturers in Guyana to further sensitize them about the Food and Beverage Show and Conference of the Americas which will be held at the Miami Beach Convention Center, September 16-18. This event will attract more than 600 exhibitors and buyers from over 50 countries, the release.
