THE Guyana/Brazil Private Sector Integration Project was formally launched yesterday at Duke Lodge in the city, signalling another potent move towards the advancement of trade and bilateral relations between the two countries. The project, in the making for some time now, is a business integration between the major private sector business support organizations in Guyana, the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), and SEBRAE, the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Development Organization.

SEBRAE has been entrusted by the Government of Brazil to promote clear and viable business development and support programmes that would allow for the establishment, sustenance and growth of small and micro entrepreneurs, with their main objectives being job creation and income generation. 

Among the gathering joining the two sides in celebrating the occasion were: Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who delivered the feature address; Brazilian Ambassador, Mr. Luis Gilberto Seixas de Andre who delivered brief remarks on the Guyana and Brazil relations, and others.
Heading the respective teams were Guyana’s Clinton Williams, President of the GMSA, who gave a background and update on the project; and Brazil’s Airton Diaz, President SEABRE/CDE, heading the eleven-man team from SEABRE and from the State of Roraima .
Vice Chairman of Guyana’s Private Sector Commission (PSC), Yog Mahadeo delivered the welcome and opening remarks.

Noting that yesterday’s launch was but the official commencement of  a project which really got underway on Monday, Williams outlined that the Brazilian team arrived in Guyana last week-end and wasted no time in getting down to an in-depth field and market intelligence study that encompasses the following sectors: 
* agriculture and agro business, particularly aquaculture, apiculture and agro-processing
* marine transportation and logistics
* tourism and cultural tourism, with emphasis on fashion, design, dance, and arts and craft.

The objectives of the integration project he listed as being: 
* to strengthen export sales through enhanced production of goods and services
* to generate employment
* to assist the northern states of Brazil, that is  Roraima/Amazonia, as well as Guyana, in identifying and developing specific products and services with the highest potential for market development and export sales within each other’s markets in the Caribbean Region and elsewhere.

The collaborative, Williams said, will revolve around reciprocal market intelligence, business opportunity studies and concomitant complementary economic activities to be undertaken by selected groups of private sector representatives from both countries. It will also involve orientation of SEBRRAE’s methodologies, its programmes and policies.

He credited Brazil, with a population of about 192 million, as ranking amongst the highest of countries that could provide tangible trade and investment opportunities for Guyanese private sector companies. Brazil is reputed to be the fifth most populous country in the world, and ranks as the world’s fifth largest economy.

Of interest, Williams noted, Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 World Cup Football tournament and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games is likely to substantially increase demand for the prioritised goods and services targeted in the current project initiative.

Against this background, the GMSA President conceded: “It seems quite logical that Guyana stands to gain from strengthening its economic relationship with this economic giant.”

Considering this a plus for the project, Williams noted that the reality at this time is that, despite a number of major trade and infrastructural investment initiatives, the intended benefits of cross-border trade and investment activities between the two countries are still way below expectation after ten years. Examples of such projects he cited as being the Partial Scope Agreement entered into in 2001 and extended by mutual agreement indefinitely in 2008, and the recently commissioned Takatu Bridge.

The GMSA President opined that the GMSA and the private sector need to find innovative ways, working in conjunction with government, to significantly reduce the trade imbalances between Guyana and Brazil, and the project at hand, ideally fills that niche.

And President of SEABRE/CDE, Airton Diaz, who saw the integration as a plus for both sides, considered Brazil lucky to be involved as a partner in the project with Guyana. Some of the business possibilities he highlighted included a business school which would allow for exchange of business between Guyana and Brazil; a robust cultural partnership and all other possibilities for business between the two countries.
Eminently excited about the prospect for the Integration Project, Mr. Diaz asserted: “We hand over to Guyana a whole line of facilities to set up business, as would strengthen the bonds in terms of tourism, especially for the World Cup and Olympic games.”
He said he believes all those coming to the World Cup Football Tournament in Brazil in 2015 should visit Guyana. Albeit, Diaz said, everything that happens for Guyana immediately will bring benefit to the state. 
Brazilian Ambassador, Mr. Luis Gilberto Seixas de Andre, expressed pride at being able to attend the launch of Guyana/Brazil Private Sector Integration, assuring that his government is pleased to pursue and support the partnership.

He concurred with Mr. Williams that the level of business generated between the two countries was very low, compared with the potential created by the setting up of the Takatu Bridge. He said that the vision is to increase substantially the level of bi-lateral exchange.  “We want to achieve a more brisk trade, with Brazil buying more goods and services from Guyana,” the Brazilian envoy stated. 
Noting that the private sector has a great leadership role to play in fostering bilateral relations, the ambassador added that the main objective of the Integration Project is that it will be an instrument that will make possible the achievement of the proposed goal  – agriculture, cultural exchange, teaching and university education. He congratulated all concerned in the setting up, and, by extension, tasked with moving the project forward.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds welcomed the visiting team from Brazil and joined in congratulating the movers of the initiative. He affirmed that the Government of Guyana looks forward to the growth of business and social relations between the people of Guyana and Brazil.
“There’s much we Guyanese can learn from Brazil, and I have no reluctance in admitting such,” the Prime Minister stated. Looking back over the years, and crediting that country’s ingenuity in acquiring materials for building and other tasks, recalled that Guyana, way back in the 70’s, benefited from the skills and expertise of Brazilian miners in the sector. He said Guyana would like to take advantage of such relations wherever possible.

Noting that Guyana’s relationship with Brazil has progressed over time, Mr. Hinds urged the two countries to keep on working collaboratively. Initiatives to which he is looking forward optimistically include the development of the Guyana/Brazil major hydro power facilities. Hinds said he eagerly anticipates to the time when major hydropower sites which would contribute considerably towards powering Guyana, and the time when the sale of flour to Boa Vista will become a reality, as well as the eventual construction of a road linking Manaus to Guyana.
“Closer, but still some distance away, we are still hoping that our two governments work to find a way of realizing such developments,” he concluded.