GuyExpo 2009
ART and craft producers will be showcasing a wide array of local products with a “total difference” at this year’s highly-anticipated GuyExpo 2009.

Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle in an interview, General Secretary of the Guyana Arts and Craft Producers’ Association (GACPA), Ms. Denzil Hollingsworth, revealed that the association is going to have 50 booths at GuyExpo, the biggest local trade and investment exposition.

GuyExpo 2009 is scheduled for the National Exhibition Centre at Sophia, Georgetown, from September 24 to 29, under the theme ‘Promoting Business in a Low Carbon Environment’.

Reminding that it is now a recognised association with members from across the ten regions who will be participating in GuyExpo 2009, including Regions Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) and Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo), Hollingsworth said these regions have already started new projects, with Lethem embarking on ‘banana craft’.

“It is going to be arts and craft with a difference,” she emphasised, also referring to Region Seven with its ‘plastic bottle craft’, describing this as ‘something that Guyana needs’.

“These include blind holders and flowers created from the very plastic bottles that we throw around,” Hollingsworth noted.

She said another product is the ‘Nibbi furniture’ coming out of the Pomeroon area, and persons will have an opportunity to meet and interact with these producers.

“It will be something worth seeing…it is going to be something awesome and different,” she reiterated.

She said samples of the products to be showcased at the show have already been brought to Georgetown from the various regions and persons can also look forward to ornaments to put on their Christmas tree, all made of local products.

“We are happy to be a part of GuyExpo 2009, and we think that people will have an opportunity to see and appreciate what is new in the sector,” she alluded.

She said the producers are trying as much as possible to make these products using sustainable materials and ensure standards.

She said the association currently boasts 320 members and has embarked on a three year strategic plan to take the sector to a wider and different variety of arts and craft.

“We are looking forward to the market and hope that GuyExpo will help to promote and market our products, not only in Guyana, but further afield,” she anticipated.

She said the association has participated in exhibitions in Brazil and Barbados where a lot of interest was generated.

She disclosed that in November, the association will be the first West Indian group to attend the Women’s Art and Craft show in Germany; and in December, the association will be showcasing local products at the Guyana/Venezuela Arts and Craft Expo in Venezuela.

“We are grateful to the GuyExpo organisers for recognising our contribution and work and for giving us an opportunity to showcase and market our products,” she expressed.

The association was established on March 6, 2008. The Executive Committee includes President, Mr. Nicholas Young; Vice President, Ms. Shefetha Tzedeq; Assistant General Secretary, Ms. Samantha DeCunha; and Treasurer, Ms. Irene Bacchus-Holder.

At its launching last month, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Mr. Manniram Prashad, who is also Co-Chair of the GuyExpo Planning Committee, said that to date about 15 countries have indicated their intention to participate.

Apart from Caribbean countries and India, China and Singapore, which participated in the last GuyExpo, there are signals of interest from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Brazil and Suriname as well.

In keeping with the objective of showcasing Guyana’s excellence and local produce for export, a seminar will be conducted prior to GuyExpo, in collaboration with the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-INVEST), during which exhibitors and investors from the Caribbean and further afield will be briefed on Guyana’s business climate and how to do business here.

The planning committee for GuyExpo 2009 comprises representatives of Government and State agencies, and the Private Sector.

The major trade show which was inaugurated in 1995, aims to create the enabling environment for businesses to develop and grow by advertising locally produced goods and services to local and foreign investors.