A MEMORANDUM of Cooperation (MoC) signed, on Monday, by Guyana’s Together We Win Business Network (TWWBN) and the Alliance of Business Associations in Suriname, is expected to boost local business capacity, while significantly promoting joint investment opportunities.
The MoC describes intended cooperation between members of both networks in the areas of trade, business development, strategic alliances, joint ventures, joint investments, and joint internationalisation.
It also includes strategies to attract investments from the relatively large diaspora of both countries.
Founder and President of TWWBN, Marlon Joseph, during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle called the initiative “mutually beneficial and timely.”
He noted that the collaboration will allow members to share in strategic training programmes that will allow them to optimize and improve strategies for sustained business growth and development.
TWWBN is an umbrella body for small and medium-sized enterprises in Guyana with the primary objective of establishing a strong professional network through collaborative interactions. Currently, 99 small and medium businesses are members of the network.
Joseph noted that TWWBN has been seeking growth opportunities locally, through private and public sector organisations, including the Small Business Bureau. He expressed belief that the opportunity is “ripe for the picking” to formulate bilateral partnerships with Guyana’s neighbour.
The Alliance of Business Associations in Suriname is a strategic partnership comprising of the Association of Small and Medium-sized Companies in Suriname, the Manufacturers Association of Suriname, the Cooperative Association of Poultry Farmers, the Association of Exporters of Agricultural Products in Suriname, the Suriname Hospitality and Tourism Association, the Fishermen Association, the Association of Surinamese Milk Farmers and the Association of Domestic Industrialists.
According to Joseph, the idea for the partnership was birthed after the Alliance of Business Associations in Suriname reached out to the network in November 2021.
“In November we received a visit from the [Association of Small and Medium-sized Companies in Suriname] and we discussed possible collaborative activities that we can do. We discussed opening up our network so that the businesses within our network can participate in entrepreneurial activities. They can go into joint ventures and see how we can bring innovative systems to Guyana and what innovative systems and business ideas and training we can give to Suriname,” Joseph stated.
He added that these partnerships are building on the relationships discussed and envisioned by President of Guyana, Dr. Irfaan Ali and the President of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi.
From all indications, the two presidents share a mutual interest in collaborating to improve the lives of their people through social and economic initiatives.
In 2021, calls were made by both presidents for their respective private sector bodies to establish partnerships for cross-border investments.
In August 2021, Suriname’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business, and International Co-operation, Albert Ramdin, underscored the importance of the two countries taking an integrated approach to investment.
Ramdin said that the two countries are eying the possibility of merging their economies into a single market space.
TWWBN and the Alliance of Business Associations in Suriname aim to promote cooperation among entrepreneurs and support, develop and facilitate their members in trade, business development, and investments. The two organisations have decided to collaborate extensively to develop and strengthen direct trade, business development and investments.
Meanwhile, Joseph told this publication that one of the major aspects of the collaboration is that businesses locally will be paired with Surinamese businesses that are similar or are in complementary sectors.
“One of the things we would have done with our network is to divide the members by sectors so we are able to discuss some of the challenges relevant per sector and possible solutions to it. So, we will be pairing the businesses in Guyana with businesses in Suriname and they will be able to discuss strategies, partnership opportunities, financing in terms of getting investors and coming together to do joint tenders and so on,” Joseph added.
