THE Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) is engaging their Cuban counterparts to develop a structured business relationship between the two countries, GCCI’s Executive Director, Kirk Hollingsworth said.
Speaking at a press briefing at the chamber’s office in Waterloo Street, Hollingsworth said the Cuban Chamber of Commerce is a powerful body.
He said the move was made as there is an increasing number of Cubans who are conducting business here.
He said the GCCI is taking a “different approach to developing Guyana”, pointing out that there are additional moves to bring investments to the country.
Recently, the GCCI and its partners hosted a trade mission from neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago in which business possibilities here were explored.
GCCI President, Deodat Indar, said the engagement saw vast interests being brought to the table by the Trinidadians, and according to him, these centered mainly on spin-offs from the country’s anticipated petroleum sector.
At the moment, the GCCI is in talks with a UK-based company which will be in Guyana next month. The discussion is aimed at hosting a major oil and gas exhibition here.
The local business community has seen an influx of Cubans who have been travelling to these shores on a visa-free travel arrangement weekly.
Businessman, Captain Gerry Gouveia, late last year called on CARICOM member -countries to match their economic and commercial relations with Cuba to that of their political ties.
Speaking on behalf of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) of Guyana, at a reception in Cuba to mark the 44th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba on the part of Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, Gouveia hailed the bold step taken by these countries in the height of the Cold War.
He noted at the time that the changing global environment requires that Guyana and other CARICOM member states “create an enabling environment that would facilitate easy access to doing business, thereby generating jobs for the people of Cuba and CARICOM”.