GO-Invest, Guyana’s primary contact agency for investors and exporters, will be ramping up promotion of investment opportunities both in Guyana and overseas.As part of the promotion drive, the agency will remodel its website by making information available in Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese.

GO-Invest Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Keith Burrowes told the Guyana Chronicle that the website will be interactive and some staffers have already begun taking courses in Spanish to become fluent in the language.
“GO-Invest in its promotional drive has seen the need to engage investors from Guyana’s neighbouring countries. A part of this effort includes sponsoring junior and senior staff to study Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and French,” he said. All staffers, the CEO noted, will have to become versed in these major languages.
Additionally, GO-Invest has installed a three-sided massive lighted sign at its main office at 190 Camp and Church Streets, Georgetown.
This massive sign which reads “Ready, Set, GO-Invest…We are with you every step of the way” in Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish is seen as necessary in providing a conducive environment for foreign language speaking investors.
GO-Invest is also working on a paper that it will present to the Office of the President. The strategy document re-examines the Incentive Regime Act, which looks at concessions, with a view of making Guyana a more investor-friendly country.
Burrowes also told this publication that greater attention will be placed on working with the leading players in the private sector, and a closer relationship will be forged with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote investment opportunities in Guyana more aggressively abroad.
BARBADOS EXHIBITION
GO-Invest is currently preparing a delegation of approximately 25 individuals and companies to attend the BMEX 2015, Barbados’ premier exhibition for manufacturers in St Michael on May 22-25.
The contingent is made up of persons and companies engaged in handicraft, manufacturing, agriculture and agro-processed foods and forest products.
GO-Invest previously visited Barbados at least twice before with delegations and have found each visit to be a huge success.
This visit is aimed at increasing trade between Guyana and Barbados as well as trade with other Caribbean countries which will also be in attendance.
GO-Invest is encouraging the Guyanese population in Barbados to come out and support Guyana at BMEX 2015.
Go-Invest mission is to contribute to Guyana’s economic development by promoting and facilitating local and foreign private-sector investment and exports in accordance with the country’s approved investment and export strategies.
GO-Invest is currently working on an in-depth analysis of investment in Guyana for the period 2010-2014.
“We have noted that in 2010, GO-Invest facilitated a record over 500 projects — the largest number of projects in its history,” Burrowes said, but pointed out that between 2011 to 2013, the number of projects facilitated by GO-Invest saw a steady decline, and in 2014, an increase was noted.
While there was a large number of projects in 2010, the value of investment was minimum since most of the projects were at prefeasibility phase, or just starting up.
In 2011, the Go-Invest CEO said, many of these projects began developing, hence, an increase in the value of investment.
GO-Invest was established under the Public Corporations Act in 1994 as a semi-autonomous body and comes under the direct purview of the Office of the President.
The CEO answers to a Board of Directors which is comprised of representatives of both the private and public sectors.
GO-Invest is divided into two divisions: one responsible for Investment Facilitation and Promotion and the other for Export Promotion. With these divisions, GO-Invest offers a full complement of services to local and foreign investors and exporters.

By Tajeram Mohabir