SEVERAL local businesses have forged partnerships with the Barbados private sector even as Export Barbados through collaboration with Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) and the local private sector seek to increase exports of products and services to Guyana.

Export Barbados is looking to increase exports to Guyana from $25M to $50M over the next three years.

According to a release from the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GSMA), Export Barbados Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mark Hill said his team will be working with their Guyanese counterparts to develop the Guyanese export market for Barbadian products.

Hill was at the time speaking during a meeting with representatives of a Guyana delegation and Senior Executives of the Barbados Manufacturing Association (BMA) on May 26, 2022, ahead of Agrofest 2022.

The meeting was part of a series of business-to-business collaborations organised by the respective government agencies, namely Export Barbados and GO-Invest.

The local delegation arrived in Barbados on Monday, May 23, 2022 and includes 56 delegates who will be exhibiting their businesses at Agrofest 2022.

Eleven businesses which were involved in several strategic business-to-business level meetings with members of Barbados’ private sector, gathered information and forged partnerships as facilitated by GO-Invest and Export Barbados.

These delegates represent a cross-section of sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture and agro-processing, jewellers, craft and industrial supplies.

This initiative is lauded as being timely and much-needed as the two countries seek to further develop strategic partnerships between their private sectors, the release said.

“There are several projects which we are working on that this collaboration will benefit,” said BMA Executive Director, Shardae Boyce, noting that pineapples and other non-traditional agricultural imports are immediate needs which can be supplied from Guyana for the production of rationing packages as part of their Rationing Pack Initiative.

GMSA Executive Director, Nizam Hassan suggested that his membership is keen on developing such partnerships with their Barbadian counterparts.

“We are looking forward to working with BMA and their members to understand the needs of the Barbados market in order to ensure that products which are supplied from Guyana meet the expectations of the Barbados consumer both from a pricing perspective as well as in terms of quality,” he said.

SIGNAL

Also present at the meeting was Paul Cheong, Chairman of Guyana’s Private Sector Commission. He suggested that the St. Barnabas Accord which was signed between Barbados and Guyana is a signal for the private sector to become more active in driving economic growth.

The question of the removal of trade restrictions to ensure easy and affordable access to products and services was also raised.

The release said the private sector is willing to invest in growing their capacity to supply the regions’ food needs but trade restrictions and limited access to affordable and appropriate logistics services must be addressed.

GMSA President, Rafeek Khan, said he is pleased at the level of urgency which has been placed on strengthening collaboration and is optimistic of the prospects of enhancing the value-added manufacturing activities.

“Both President Ali and Prime Minister Motley prioritised the implementation of the St. Barnabas Accord and are wasting no time in putting the necessary resources in place to ensure that this elusive dream of a single economic space is realised,” said GO-Invest CEO, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop.

In the midst of the global challenges facing the region, driven in large part by COVID-19, resulting in increasing supply chain disruptions, the CEO indicated that they are in collaboration with Export Barbados to set up Trade and Investment Facilitation offices in Guyana and Barbados.

This will see Barbados having a constant presence in Guyana and vice versa.

This move by GO-Invest and Export Barbados, the release said, is intended to ensure that commercial initiatives can be easily and expeditiously operationalised.

The representative of GO-Invest will be housed within the Secretariat which has been set up by Export Barbados in Pelican Village, while the representative of Export Barbados will be housed within the Guyana Office for Investment in Guyana.

This collaboration will also seek to address some of the financing challenges which have been identified by key stakeholders and see businesses in both countries benefitting from development financing opportunities.