The diaspora conference

GUYANA can look forward with much hope and optimism in building and consolidating business partnerships when senior Government functionaries today meet with investors and executives in New York at an investment forum.All told, the occasion will target the Guyanese diaspora with the aim of bringing together Guyana’s leadership, the business community, corporate leaders and investors to explore the exciting investment opportunities in Guyana. The forum is important, as it is happening at a time when the economy is less than robust due to a downturn in markets for rice, sugar, gold and bauxite, all local major exports, in the international arena.
The World Bank also in its latest report has projected that Guyana’s economy will record less growth in the next two years. Of course, the projections of the Bank are subject to change due to a volatile global environment, but undoubtedly, it points in the direction that much work is needed in the years ahead.
And the New York confabulation can be the ideal forum for Government to build serious, genuine and long-lasting relationships with credible investors, so that Guyana’s economy can be given the impetus it needs in the years to come. When all is said and done, there is a whole lot that can be garnered from the diaspora in terms of business, tourism and skilled human resources.
While efforts have been made to harness the wealth of this community, one can safely say that they were haphazard, piecemeal and lacked thorough attention. The Remigrant Housing Programme under the former administration readily comes to mind. Given these shortcomings, it would be useful for the Government to work to close the loopholes of this programme if it decides to go ahead with it, and to give attention to crafting a comprehensive programme for the diaspora.
Foremost in all of this is the setting up of a diaspora desk or department that looks into the myriad areas of opportunities that are available to Guyana and look at ways of how Guyana can fully capitalise on them. In doing this, it would demonstrate that Guyana is not only talking the talk, but walking the walk when it comes to business. In all of this, Go-Invest has an important role to play, in not only engaging the diaspora in terms of business, but also in trying to woo large businesses to set up shop here.
In this regard, such a forum as the one in the Big Apple City on Friday is vital in the sense that it serves as an avenue to establish linkages and building a network with entrepreneurs, both in the diaspora and farther afield, to take Guyana forward.
Business in Guyana for years now has been more or less routine business with grocery stores, beverage shops, clothing establishments, hotels and entertainment spots crowding the market. There is hardly, and in some cases, no innovation at all to business, notably in the areas of medicine, technology and agriculture, even though Guyana is by and large an agricultural economy and a net exporter of food.

It is clear that while the vision is probably there, Guyana lacked the expertise to venture into these areas, and would need to tap the expertise that can be had in the diaspora if it intends to move robustly in this direction.
And movement is this direction should not be ignored, since from the looks of things, the road ahead appears to be rough. But encouragingly, there are also a great number of opportunities to be had and it will require Guyana adopting a proactive approach to seize them. From the pronouncements of the Government, it understands the importance of creating the environment for business to grow and flourish. Highly encouraging is the decision to place greater attention to small business development, agro-processing and the hosting of business expos, among others. With these, one can expect the hosting of more investment conferences and seminars both locally and abroad. And in this regard, the Ministry of Business should consider introducing a Business Month or Business Week to celebrate and promote business in Guyana.

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