THE British Chamber of Commerce (BritCham) Guyana will in November be hosting a business forum and networking event, with the aim of building and enhancing partnerships among Guyanese and United Kingdom (UK) businesses.

BritCham’s Chairman, Faizal Khan, during a Friday press conference ahead of the forum, highlighted the rapid growth of Guyana’s economy since 2014, as the country now stands as the UK’s largest trading partner in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Khan emphasised the event’s importance for networking and business opportunities, noting that almost 40 Guyanese businesses have already signed up. The event will be held on November 6 at the Stamford Bridge Stadium.

“Use this opportunity. It’s on your doorstep. Come and join us at Chelsea Football Club. Last year, we had over 275 people. We estimate this is going to be equal, or, if not larger,” Khan said.

British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller praised BritCham’s role in fostering collaboration and supporting businesses.

The London event is described as a platform for collaboration, bringing together Guyanese businesses, London-based businesses, and officials to explore opportunities.

“I think this London event is brilliant because it brings together Guyanese businesses, British based businesses and officials, and gives them the opportunity to get together and look about opportunities for collaboration,” she said, adding: “I do think there’s great opportunity for further collaboration. So, if you’re a Guyanese business, go to the UK. This is an opportunity for you to meet face to face with people that have an interest in coming here… this builds on so much work that my team in the high commission has been doing.”

The High Commissioner encourages Guyanese businesses to take advantage of the event to meet potential partners, highlighting the success of previous trade missions and similar events.

Chief Investment Officer of Guyana and Head of the Guyana office for Investment (Go-Invest), Dr. Peter Ramswaroop noted that the event is expected to explore opportunities in logistics, agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, and data centres in Guyana.

He said: “Guyana is the place for good opportunities. So, this engagement that BritCham is putting on here, is going to be critical for our local private sector companies and the international partners that are looking to get together; we are really helping our businesses look at joint ventures, how to best do that, but the opportunities are there.

“The president’s vision is to ensure that we become a global leader within this region, and we are destined to do it.”

Dr. Ramsaroop noted that Go-Invest and BritCham will be working closely to engage smaller enterprises that would like to participate in the upcoming event.