-CARICOM, Belize, St Kitts and Nevis, Brazil call for stronger connectivity, diversified partnerships

GUYANA’S investment and partnership opportunities were among the main highlights as regional leaders and diplomatic representatives at the World Trade Centre Georgetown’s International Trade and Investment Conference on Monday called for stronger trade while pinpointing openings in agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, logistics and regional supply chains.

Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Dr Carla Barnett emphasised the need to diversify regional production and strengthen economic integration, while Belize High Commissioner Gale Miller-Garnett, delivering a message from Prime Minister John Briceño, outlined Belize’s role as a gateway to Central America.

A message from St Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew, delivered by investment agency representative Zikomo Condor, highlighted opportunities for mutually beneficial investment, while Brazil’s Ambassador to Guyana, Maria Cristina de Castro Martins, called for stronger transport links and more diversified bilateral trade. World Trade Centre Georgetown Executive Chairman Komal Samaroo used the opportunity to urge regional businesses to work together to build resilient economies and expand commercial opportunities.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Dr Barnett said the increasingly uncertain global trading environment made regional integration and collective action more important, particularly for small, open Caribbean economies facing rising costs and changing supply chains.

She noted that while CARICOM’s merchandise exports had increased significantly over the past five years, much of the growth was driven by energy and commodities, leaving the Region heavily dependent on imports of food, manufactured goods, and capital equipment.

She said the challenge now is broadening the Region’s productive base, improving investment flows, and creating stronger connections between businesses across member states.

“The Caribbean Community’s trade performance over the past five years has seen merchandise exports increasing from about 19 billion to more than 39 billion. Imports also rose to around 42.9 billion in 2025, but export growth was stronger. As a result, the merchandise trade deficit narrowed substantially from levels exceeding 10 billion in earlier years to approximately 2.6 billion and 3.3 billion in 2024 and 2025 respectively,” she said.

Dr Barnett highlighted opportunities in agriculture and agribusiness, renewable energy, tourism, transportation, logistics and communications, while stressing that investment should strengthen productive capacity, encourage innovation and create employment.

She urged investors to consider the wider CARICOM market rather than viewing opportunities solely through individual national economies, noting that regional co-operation could create a larger platform for production, trade and investment.

“CARICOM and the wider Caribbean attracted approximately US$ 4 billion in inward foreign direct investment in both 2024 and 2025 accounting for only a small share of total inflows to Latin America and the Caribbean. These flows also remain concentrated in tourism, real estate, energy, and selected services while greenfield investment remains comparatively weak. These trends reinforce the long-standing reality that our economies are small, very open and highly concentrated. Amid heightened external uncertainty, regional integration and collective action become even more important,” she said.

Meanwhile, Belizean High Commissioner reaffirmed the strong relationship between Belize and Guyana while conveying a message from Prime Minister John Briceño inviting investors to explore opportunities in Belize.

Miller-Garnett encouraged investors to look beyond Belize’s relatively small population and recognise its strategic location between Mexico, Guatemala, and the wider North American and Caribbean markets.

She said Belize was investing in ports, roads and connectivity while pursuing trade agreements with neighbouring countries to expand market access.

Reading an excerpt from the Prime Minister’s message, she highlighted Belize’s efforts to create an enabling environment for investment in agriculture, manufacturing, logistics and infrastructure, including the modernisation of its ports.

“Belize is focused on providing an enabling environment to encourage investment in the agro-productive sector, manufacturing sector and in improving our trade infrastructure by investing in logistics and infrastructure through massive infrastructure projects such as the modernisation of the ports of Belize,” she said.

ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION

Meanwhile, Dr Drew’s message similarly highlighted the importance of strengthening economic ties with Guyana and the wider Caribbean.

He emphasised that the federation was seeking strategic investments across tourism, agriculture, renewable energy, information technology, financial services, manufacturing, and international education.

“St Kitts and Nevis’ participation in this conference reflects our government’s commitment to strengthening regional partnerships, creating new partnerships, and positioning our Federation as an ideal destination for investment,” Condor said as he delivered Dr Drew’s message to the gathering.

Further, mention was made of Guyana’s expanding economic profile presenting opportunities for both countries to develop mutually beneficial relationships and build on their longstanding connections.

“Guyana’s growing economic profile presents exciting opportunities for deeper engagement between our two countries. We see opportunities to develop mutually beneficial relationships, facilitate investment opportunities, and explore partnerships that can contribute to both nations. And in many ways, we will be continuing a legacy of collaboration and cooperation between our people,” Dr Drew’s message said.

The Brazilian Ambassador to Guyana called for closer economic co-operation between the neighbouring countries, noting that bilateral trade had exceeded US$1 billion for three consecutive years between 2023 and 2025.

Martins said trade reached approximately US$800 million in the first eight months of 2026, representing a 25 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2025. However, she noted that a substantial portion of the trade reflected Guyana’s crude oil exports to Brazil, while Brazilian exports to Guyana were spread across industrial goods, machinery, construction materials, food products, and agricultural inputs.

The ambassador said there was considerable scope to diversify the relationship, particularly through agricultural production, agro-processing, food storage, logistics and technical cooperation.

“Our trade relationship is already substantial but there remains considerable room to make it broader and more diversified. Agriculture is one of these areas that we should diversify. We have followed with great interest Guyana’s efforts to increase agricultural production, expand agro-processing, and position itself as a regional food hub,” she stressed.

In his address, Samaroo said the conference was intended to help Guyana and the wider Caribbean respond to global uncertainty by developing stronger regional supply chains, improving trade facilitation, and identifying new areas for investment.

Samaroo highlighted the potential for Guyana, Belize, and Suriname to establish stronger commercial connections with Latin American markets.

“We must ask ourselves; how do we protect our economies, create new opportunities, strengthen our resilience, and secure sustainable prosperity in an increasingly uncertain world?” he said adding, “We need to take account of our geographical realities with three CARICOM members, Guyana, Belize, and Suriname, having potential supply chain linkages with the Latin American economy and linking Latin American economies with the rest of the region. These opportunities should be explored fully over the next four days.”