GUYANA will need a major improvement in its logistics systems if it is to successfully expand its gold and jewellery trade internationally, Technical Consultant at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Dominic Gaskin, has said.

Gaskin said the anticipated growth of the industry would result in significantly greater movement of high-value gold and jewellery shipments into and out of Guyana, requiring the country to rethink how such goods are handled.

He made this known while speaking on the Starting Point podcast, during which he noted that logistics was one of several critical services that would have to improve as Guyana seeks to establish itself as a major player in the international jewellery trade.

“Of course there’s logistics, logistic services because you’re moving high-value packages in and out of the country, at I guess on a scale that is unprecedented so far in Guyana,” Gaskin said.

He related that changes would be required on both the business and government sides of the process.

According to Gaskin, private-sector logistics providers would need to be able to handle the requirements associated with high-value shipments, while the government’s trade-facilitation processes would also have to become more efficient.

“We can no longer do things the way we used to do it, both on the business-service side of it, as well as on the government’s trade-facilitation side of it,” he said.

The technical consultant stressed that improvements must be accompanied by competitive costs if Guyana is to attract and retain international jewellery-related business.

“Both have to be made more efficient and, of course, affordable also, if we want to be competitive with other countries that are doing similar things,” he said.

The logistics challenge is expected to become more significant if Guyana succeeds in increasing the scale of its jewellery exports and imports.

For businesses dealing in high-value products, the ability to move shipments efficiently and reliably is an important component of international competitiveness.

Against this backdrop, Gaskin said the required improvements form part of the wider work needed to support Guyana’s ambition of becoming a gold and jewellery hub by 2030.

The proposed transformation, as such, extends beyond jewellery production itself, requiring supporting services to evolve alongside the industry.