THE SEBRAE group from Brazil visited Linden on Monday and interacted with several business persons.
They also inspected the newly constructed Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) wharf and OMAI docking areas, at Wismar, that will facilitate the landing of container goods and services from Brazil for trans-shipment to the Caribbean and further abroad. The visitors first stopped at Egbert Benjamin Exhibition Hall and Conference Centre in Mackenzie, where the Linden Interim Management Committee (IMC) Chairman, Mr. Orin Gordon welcomed them to the town, in the absence of Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Berbice) Chairman, Mr. Mortimer Mingo.
Gordon spoke of what he and Mingo envisage for the township.
He said: “One of our main concerns is that we believe the town, although considered a fledging community, primarily because of the presence of the large bauxite conglomerate, in some ways did not allow for the proliferation of businesses in general.”
Gordon said, in light of that, lots of things that happened only started to happen within the last two decades or so.
He continued: “As a result, you would find that we are now making a sort of footing in terms of development within the town. It is, therefore, part of the reason why I was asking for some consideration to cater for businesses within the town, in terms of what the more traditional and stronger organisations are, as against, let us say, in Georgetown.
“Therefore, that is why I see the nexus with SEBRAE as a very important one and urge the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN), as one of the institutions within the town, to help propel the development of our businesses.
“To be frank and honest, as the conduit, we expect a lot of ancillary services to be provided by the town. It is, therefore, important that our tradesmen and other employees make themselves ready for the proliferation of the connections with Brazil.”
President of Linden Chamber of Industry, Development and Commerce, Mr. Basil Jaipal, who spoke for the business community said: “We are hoping that Linden becomes the hub of Linden/Brazil trading activities. Linden, as you know, is ideally positioned from where you can reach any part of Guyana and the rest of the world.”
He added that Linden, while being accessible by land, air and water, has numerous skills and encouraged the Brazilians to see it as the springboard to business in Guyana.
Jaipal invited the Brazilians to the Linden Expo next month.
Meantime, though, he expressed the hope that their interaction with Guyanese would be fruitful and they enjoy the beauty of Guyana.”
Another speaker at that forum, LEN Coordinator, Ms Valerie Sharpe-Adams said the very nature of her agency’s operations is similar to that of SEBRAE, which is of great interest locally, to form alliances for providing opportunities and fostering development for all businesses here in Linden.
She acknowledged that Linden, in terms of geography, is no match for Brazil but said:“We are a strong and industrious people with a very unique and interesting business culture.”