ACTIONINVEST Caribbean Inc., on Friday, launched its fifth edition of the Who’s Who in Guyana Business Directory at a reception held at the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre, which was attended by dignitaries, special invitees and representatives of well-known Guyanese corporations.
Chairman of ActionINVEST Caribbean Inc., Dr. Vishnu Doerga, said the publication was inspired by private sector investments. As a result, this directory provides valuable insights into over 250 companies and the various industries that make up the Guyanese economy, along with a wealth of information on businesses that provide goods and services.
“We started Who’s Who because we needed better business-to-business connections to be made in Guyana considering the many investors that are coming into the country. Having served the business support organisation now for 21 years, I have come to the realisation that business support organisations play a role.
“They do have a mandate to advocate and to work on a broader and general level across cutting issues, but they do need business support organisations like ourselves that can actually work directly with companies to get them connected and get them the type of resources that they may need to be able to really move their organisation forward,” Dr. Doerga explained.
While noting that ActionINVEST is continuously looking at ways of evolving, he was pleased that a company which started with just three persons, two of whom were males, is now run by 83 per cent females, who, according to him, do the majority of the work.
Meanwhile, with the help of the shareholders of ActionINVEST and the board of directors, the team will no longer be working out of a rented office space; they unveiled the banner to their newest facility, which is labelled the ‘Caribbean Trade Centre’, located at Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara.
According to Dr Doerga, “We have been in operation since June, and we have been delivering the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women at this location. We have trained 160 women, of whom 131 were able to graduate with their certificate in business management.”
Currently, ActionINVEST is training 100 persons in the tourism and hospitality programmes. He also noted that companies from Suriname, Trinidad, and Guyana are already occupying the new facility. While the new location aims to become a ‘one-stop destination’ for unparalleled business support as well as commercial spaces, the intent is to open centres across the Caribbean.
This is expected to first occur in Suriname and then Trinadad.
Dr. Doerga expressed gratitude to their distributors, the Centre for Local Business Development, the Guyana Office for Investment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Guyana Tourism Authority for supporting them by distributing the Who’s Who Directory to the world.
Also speaking at the event were the British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller, and the Chief Investment Officer of Go-Invest, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop.
High Commissioner Miller said, “The United Kingdom (UK) is really happy to be associated with this…for me, it’s really exciting as it demonstrates Guyana’s story of growth. Just having a look at the Who’s Who Directory to see the number of businesses that are happening is phenomenal. I was at the Agri Expo earlier today [Friday], and that is another example of the incredible growth of this country and in so many sectors.”
Dr. Ramsaroop reflected on his childhood with his grandparents and the differences between Guyana then and now. He also reminded and encouraged the young people to make use of the opportunities that are currently available to them.
