THE Guyanese-American Chamber of Commerce (GACC) is pushing to establish a World Trade Centre in Guyana by the end of 2020, and an official of the World Trade Development Group is in Guyana speaking with a number of stakeholders on how Guyana can benefit.

According to the Chamber in a Friday press release, Mr. John Dickson, president of the World Trade Development Group, came to Guyana at the invitation of the GACC. He has held meetings with Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman; Foreign Secretary Carl Greenidge; Special Political Adviser to the President, Dr. Mark Kirton and Dr Peter Ramsaroop, an economic adviser to the leader of the opposition.

“On the private sector side, he has met with Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Chairman Komal Samaroo and chairman of Demerara Bank Dr. Yesu Persaud; members of the council of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) led by its chairman, Capt. Gerry Gouveia and other businesspersons from the construction, real estate development and tourism sectors. He also met with Professor Leyland Lucas, Dean of the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation at the University of Guyana and US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch,” the release said.

“Guyana has now emerged as a major player in global business with its oil and gas discoveries. Oil can be a curse if not managed well and an important requirement is that resources be directed to other sectors such as manufacturing, especially light manufacturing, agriculture and agribusiness, tourism and the creative industries, among others. These are sectors that offer opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises to develop and here is where a World Trade Centre in Guyana can be used as a tool to help these enterprises grow through the creation of linkages to assist with market access,” Mr. Dickson said during his meetings.

He said the World Trade Center Association (WTCA) does not license a centre in a city and country based merely on the financial capacity of the licensee, but takes into account the reputation, global reach and capacity to fashion a menu of programmes and activities relative to the needs of the economy and its small and medium-sized enterprises.

He said among the critical activities of a centre should be hands-on training for business students and small entrepreneurs, the provision and explanation of laws and regulations and the hosting of incubation workshops.

“I am very impressed with the people with whom I have interacted and am thankful to the Guyanese-American Chamber for having invited me and for the meetings it has arranged. Guyana has leapfrogged onto the global business stage and it is important that the opportunities be taken advantage of for all sections of the society. The big businesses really don’t need the tools which a world trade centre provides. They already have within them various departments that take care of what they need. But they can play a part in helping to grow the small businesses and so I am happy that a Guyanese company like DDL, that is a player in the global marketplace is interested in taking the lead to have a WTC set up in Guyana. DDL is to submit its letter of interest to the WTCA on Monday,” Dickson said.

He noted that while governments are not usually licence holders, they need to provide a letter of support for the centre. “From my interactions with both government officials and Dr. Ramsaroop I am comfortable that whichever political party forms the government following the upcoming elections, that government would support a WTC in Guyana,” Dickson said.