As the September 11 date approaches for its London launch, the British Chamber of Commerce (BritCham) Guyana, yesterday made a pitch to local businesses to attend, with emphasis placed on benefits including future investment and partnership possibilities.
“For the businesses in Guyana that are serious about finding partners, finding customers in the United Kingdom, we believe that our event is a starting place,” President of BritCham Guyana, Faizul Khan, yesterday told a press conference where he updated on the event, scheduled for 7 pm in the Thomas Lord Suite at the prestigious Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, England.
“We don’t believe it is the finished product, and I don’t think we will be able to solve all the problems in three hours over the food and drinks, but I think it is going to be a start. And I think some handshakes are going to happen, some introductions will happen, some networkings are going to happen…,” he added.
Khan said that it was one step of many events planned by the body, to afford local businesses the opportunity to meet and network with business persons in the UK.
He urged businesses here to reach out to BritCham if they are interested in knowing what opportunities can be tapped into.
Meanwhile, British High Commission-er, Jane Miller, underscored that Guyanese businesses can see that the United Kingdom-owned businesses are well established and in for the long haul and are not ‘fly by night’. “We don’t come in and fly away. We develop long-term relationships,” she assured.
London and Georgetown, the UK envoy also pointed out, have had excellent relations and in the areas of trade, this country has been the one to exceed all other Caribbean counterparts for last year alone.
“The UK has a long relationship with Guyana. Guyana is already the UK’s leading trade partner in the whole of the Caribbean. We have more than £1.6 billion worth of trade last year and we really value that. So, why is the UK an important business partner? I think, there are a number of reasons. Number one, we are reliable; we provide quality services, quality goods and we also develop long-term relationships,” Miller asserted.
On the government’s side, Head of the Guyana Office for Investment (G-Invest), Dr Peter Ramsaroop, pointed out that business partnership opportunities with United Kingdom businesses are many and with Guyana’s planned diversified economy, the time is ripe for locals to capitalise.
“More and more what we are looking for from the British, is knowledge in the ITC sector. We believe that with artificial intelligence coming in place, Guyana could be a data centre hub. Data centre hubs need high power; we are going to have gas to be able to do high power. We are looking to move rapidly into the manufacturing sector as the gas comes to shore, and energy cost goes down,” he asserted.
“Which is the best country to be speaking to? Countries like… Great Britain as a whole. And the next phase is into food security, which is the agro-processing. We want to see our pineapples in a can that goes to the region. We need that expertise and knowledge from folks that have done it, and have done it over and over again,” he explained.
Better alternative
Ramsaroop later told Stabroek News that companies buying materials for infrastructural projects can see Great Britain as a better alternative to purchasing from China as the shipping time would be cut in half while also guaranteed quality products.
He reasoned that with Guyana being an English-speaking country, and tied in with some many agreements with CARICOM, this investment destination is attractive to UK investors.
In a press release from BritCham, he had said “This event is a testament to the growing economic relationship between Guyana and the UK. We are excited about the opportunities this launch will create for businesses in both countries. We have already seen many British companies enter Guyana, and with His Excellency’s 2030 plan, we anticipate attracting even larger players. G-Invest will focus on proactively engaging with technology and manufacturing companies to further this agenda.”
Meanwhile, BritCham’s president said that the London launch was planned for a Wednesday to allow for easy travel for locals as they can take the British Airways flight to London on Tuesday, attend the event on Wednesday and return home on Thursday.
He informed that so far over 50 persons have registered but that they are not only from Guyana as the Guyanese diaspora is also interested.
When the event was announced in June, it was described as a “significant step” in strengthening the business ties between the United Kingdom and Guyana, which will bring together influential business leaders, government officials, and key stakeholders from both nations to celebrate and promote bilateral trade and investment opportunities.
