THE Guyana Trade and Investment Exhibition (GuyTIE) 2020 has been postponed from February to May 2020 to cater for better planning for the event which is now expected to be even bigger than planned.

The date change also took into consideration Guyana’s political climate as it would have previously been held just before the country’s General and Regional Elections.

In a press briefing during the Guyana International Petroleum Business Summit & Exhibition (GIPEX) 2019, representatives of the GuyTIE team updated the media on the changes since the previous July 2019 launch.

“We needed a little bit more time to get our planning ready,” Coordinator of GuyTIE, Tameca Sukdeo-Singh explained, adding:

“That [the elections] was taken into consideration because exhibitors have some level of concern. GuyTIE is for Guyana and for the people of Guyana, especially businesses. We’re providing a platform for export-ready businesses.”

Sukdeo-Singh used the forum to speak to the differences between the inaugural GuyTIE 2019 and GuyTIE 2020.

She noted that, previously, there were 59 exhibitors but this time the organizers are catering for between 150-200 exhibitors which will see them out-growing the previous Marriott Hotel venue and on to the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

The organizers are looking to feature 100-150 local exhibitors and about 50 foreign ones which will come primarily from Regional Chambers of Commerce and investment promotion agencies.

“Coming out of our feedback with stakeholders last year, we worked on improving our public relations, our buyer recruitment strategies and our preparation for exhibitors for the event. We’re working closely with our strategic regional partner, Caribbean Exports to bring buyers into the event as well as to train our exhibitors to prepare them for the exhibition,” Sukdeo-Singh said.

GuyTIE aims to promote local investment opportunities; to prepare export-ready firms for export markets and to highlight Guyana as a profitable business destination.

The sectors to be represented include agro-processing; chemicals and pharmaceuticals; construction; food and beverage; food processing; forestry and wood products; information and communications; printing and publishing; printing and packaging; tourism, arts and craft and other services.

Already, six sponsors are on board and 15 exhibitors have registered.

Caribbean Exports Competitiveness and Export Promotion Manager, Damie Sinanan, told the media that the body has committed to undertaking a series of training for exhibitors to GuyTIE, to ensure they are ready to reap the coming benefits.

Meanwhile the GuyTIE team is conducting outreaches to local Chambers of Commerce to select businesses with products which have potential export readiness and businesses interested in JVs.

According to Chief Executive Officer of Go-INVEST, Owen Verwey, GuyTIE 2020 will undoubtedly ensure that businesses, other than those within the oil and gas industry, can benefit from the increased interest in Guyana.

“The Guyana economy is moving forward at a very fast pace; it’s changing, it’s becoming more and more dynamic in areas that were not typically expected –traditional, agriculture, forestry, have been growing and I think with what is coming down the stream and the direct effects from the emerging energy industry can have positive effect on every other sector of the economy,” he said.

Meanwhile, Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) President, Nicholas Boyer, said that GCCI sees its participation as fulfilling its mandate to promote trade fairs and exports and international competitiveness.

He stated: “Events like this we see as a strategic fit of ourselves and we think it sparks a national conversation about improving competitiveness of Guyanese industries and getting more Guyanese products out, both regionally and worldwide.”