THE World Trade Centre, Georgetown, Guyana, is scheduled to be formally opened in February 2023 and arrangements are currently being put in place with a number of relevant agencies and organisations internationally whose work focus on promoting trade among small and medium size enterprises.

According to a release, a team from Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) headed by Executive Chairman, Komal Samaroo, recently ended a weeklong visit to New York which focused primarily on talks with the World Trade Centres Association (WTCA) on developments with the World Trade Centre, Georgetown.

DDL earlier this year acquired a license for the establishment of the centre here.
The release noted that the DDL team held wide-ranging discussions with James Perry, General Counsel and Clark Lackert, Deputy General Counsel, at the WTCA head office in New York City on issues related to trademarks, geographic indication, market access, branding, global trade and investment policy and strategies for advancing the interest of small enterprises to ensure their sustainability.

Samaroo, the release noted, also updated the WTCA top officials on progress being made with the retro-fitting of the building on High Street, Kingston which will serve as the World Trade Centre and with plans for the branding and utilisation of the seven-floor facility.

Much of the discussion focused on the programmes which the World Trade Centre in Guyana will initiate and its collaboration with the more than 300 centres in more than 100 countries to promote prosperity through trade,” the release said.

It noted that WTCA officials presented a number of gifts to the visiting delegation including the WTCA flag and commemorative coin. The meeting followed a conducted tour of the Freedom Towers which now house the World Trade Center, New York.

“The visit and discussions with the WTCA officials have given us a better idea of how we can best leverage the work of WTC Georgetown not only to expand the market for DDL’s products but to promote trade and help facilitate market access for products from Guyana particularly through training and information-sharing among small and medium size enterprises,” said Samaroo.

“I am really convinced of the tremendous benefit that a World Trade Centre in Guyana will offer the business community through its network of relationships with centres around the world. We are also looking at designating one floor of the facility as a tourist attraction, which will serve as a pleasant educational experience for both Guyanese and overseas visitors,” he said.

During the visit to New York, the DDL team held a number of media engagements, paid courtesy calls at the Guyana Permanent Mission to the United Nations and the Guyana Consulate, the release concluded.