By Marcelle Thomas in Barbados
A commercial desk is to be set up at the Guyana consulate in Barbados.
This follows myriad questions raised by the 80 persons from Guyana who participated at the 2025 Barbados Agrofest last week in Bridgetown.
“In Barbados, we are working to set up a business facilitation desk and I have asked G-Invest [Guyana Office for Investment] to look at a cargo consolidation plan to reduce the cost of transportation, enhance competitiveness, and reduce cost. Transport and logistics are key areas for us to improve efficiency. Another important area is working with the private sector in setting up a cold storage and warehouse housing facility in Barbados. These policies will no doubt help SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) and enhance the trade relationship with Barbados,” President Irfaan Ali yesterday told Stabroek News.
Ali also said that Guyana is working on realigning the work of its embassies, high commissions, and consulate offices, to focus on trade and commerce.
In keeping with a decision by Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders at their summit held in Bridgetown last week, the President said the regional single-market bloc is collaborating with the regional business community to remove non-tariff barriers.
“We are working with CARICOM and the Caribbean Private Sector Organisation in having non- tariff regional trade barriers addressed, on an aggressive time table. Our relationship with Barbados has seen tremendous acceleration in trade, people-to-people ties and partnership,” he said.
Guyana’s Consul General in Barbados, Harry Gill, explained that it was “an idea considered by the consulate for proposal to government… the participants had so much questions and government thinks it is a good idea to have a business desk in the consulate where people from Guyana and Barbados can get help about investment and trade”. Gill made it clear that it can only be implemented with the approval of the Guyana Government and through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Guyana.
“The Business Desk will, among so many other things, help Guyanese manufacturers to navigate all the red tape and bottlenecks they are likely to encounter on their own with the local [Barbadian] authorities, making it easier for them to get their products accepted in the Barbados market,” he added.
Local participants yesterday met at the Marriott Hotel in Barbados to provide feedback on their experience and meet with Barbadian distributors.
A common complaint especially for first-time exhibitors was that although they sold out their products, given that the purchases were made in Barbadian dollars, they were having a difficult time converting the currency to United States dollars to take home.
One participant,who was selling rum punch, said that she was unaware that persons are supposed to have certain permissions to sell alcohol products, until she was asked by authorities at the booth. She was allowed to sell but pointed out that had she known this before, she would have been prepared.
Another participant bemoaned the fact that while Guyana changes Barbados currency to Guyanese dollars, in Barbados where the US dollar is worth BD$2, when the Bajan currency is changed it amounts to less.
Other participants expressed interest in shipping and logistical support for items they want to put on the markets here. A Laparkan representative in Barbados was present and shared that they ship items using three carriers. The cost for shipping the distributors would have to be selected, based on packages available.
Gill noted that the issues voiced by the participants have exposed the common thread that they are in need of guidance and the consulate here can be of assistance. He shared that a Guyanese had sought his help on how to distribute Bank DIH’s Demico Ice Cream in Barbados as he was frustrated with not being able to access information on his own. He said it was why he was proposing the business desk.
“You heard all the bottlenecks that the participants say they were having to go through in terms of getting money changed. They come up here with US dollars and then they sell their products and they get Bajan currency. They have to change back and they are having a difficult time doing so. They need someone at the consulate to advise them on what they do to avoid the delay in getting the money changed and all of that. If you have a business desk at the consulate, and someone in Barbados wants to get their product into the Guyana market, and then there are investors who might want to import Guyana products, we can advise them how to bring goods. It is basically reducing all the bottlenecks,” he iterated.
“A major thing is shipping. How do they get their things from Guyana to Barbados? What are the customs looking for here? So you have people who want to export for the first time but they don’t know. It might not be the Agrofest all the time. It might be some small business looking to get their product. One person said he wanted to get Banks’ ice cream into the Barbados market, something like that. We, as a consulate, can investigate. It gives us authority to investigate for the small man. Having the consulate as opposed to an individual searching on their own is a better thing,” he added.
The Consul General also pointed out that trade is always two-way and that the help desk is also for Barbadians to come in and enquire about how they can invest in Guyana and what products are available.
The Agrofest opened on Friday with Guyana’s agricultural produce, mainly ground provisions and pineapples in high demand. There were around 80 exhibitors in the Guyana section and President Ali urged locals to maximize the market.
“Last year, on day two all the products were finished, all! I told them I hope they saw the demand trends and catered for that this year. Our pineapples are a big seller, all of the ground provisions really, but they love the pineapples and ground provisions,” Ali told the Sunday Stabroek as he toured the Guyana pavilion at the event.
