October 15-17 Guyana – Suriname Business Conference signals new focus for CARICOM

At the Guyana International Business Conference

For reasons that have everything to do with their most recent accession to the status of petro states – never mind the fact that the full rewards that attend that status are yet to materialize, Guyana and neighbouring Suriname have, overnight, become the region’s major attention-getters. Media reportage across the region is, these days, unlikely to overlook news deriving from either country, particularly as this pertains to the growth of their respective oil and gas sectors and how these might impact on the fortunes of the wider region.

It is this that accounts for the recent presence of a delegation from CARICOM member country Belize to attend the іnаugurаl Guуаnа-Ѕurіnаmе Іntеrnаtіоnаl Вuѕіnеѕѕ Соnfеrеnсе (ІВС) from October 15-17 here in Georgetown which reportedly sought to focus on pushing Guyana’s manufacturing sector. This year’s inaugural conference focused on the aggressive promotion of Guyana’s manufacturing sector and was co-hosted by the Suriname-Guyana Chamber of Commerce (SGCC) and the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA).

The acquisition of additional petro resources for CARICOM member countries augers well for a group of countries whose advancement in the international community have, over time, been retarded by their energy deficiencies and the high costs associated with the extra-regional acquisition of those resources. As Guyana and Suriname consolidate their respective positions as oil-producing countries it is expected that the challenges associated with oil availability and costs in the region will be lessened paving the way for regional member countries to assume positions of enhanced prominence in the international community.