SOME foreign investors visiting Guyana for GuyExpo 2012 have expressed strong interest in investing in the country.
Among those who spoke to the Guyana Chronicle about their desire to import several of the local products were members of a 15-strong delegation from New York in the United States (U.S.).

One of them is the Chief Executive Officer of Dave West Indian Imports, Mr. Dave Narine, who said he has been participating in GuyExpo since its inception and seen significant improvement over the years.
His company is a wholesale importer and distributor of Guyanese foodstuff and, according to him; they also import utensils such as the ‘belna’ and ‘chowkie.’
He said he works with all the major companies in Guyana, including Banks DIH and Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), as well as the small scale farmers, as he is trying to facilitate everyone.
His imports to New York are ‘achar’, casareep and pepper sauce, which are distributed across the U.S. through stores and retail supermarkets.
President of Shri’s Draperies Incorporated, in New York, Mr. Shree Harbajan said he is looking to import furniture from Guyana, particularly those made from bamboo.
He has already begun negotiations with a very reputable company and plans to open a custom made furniture and drapery business where the merchandise will be made here and exported.

TIMBER AND FRUITS
Another investor, owner of Ocean Spray beach apartments in Barbados, Mr. Mahmood Patel said he has a strong interest in Guyana’s timber and fruits.
He said the Guyanese fruits are of better quality than those in Barbados and taste better. He said Guyana is known for mass timber production and he is ready to make an investment in it.
“Barbados and the rest of the small islands in the Caribbean don’t really produce timber and Guyana is known for making really good hardwood and we would like to explore that some more,” Patel said.
He said he has already established several contacts and will soon be coming back to negotiate further in this regard.
“I came looking at timber production and I made some really good contacts, so far. I was looking at fruits and vegetables and also looking into buying fish products or sea foods,” Patel said.
However, he anticipated some challenges in exporting those products to Barbados but, once those are resolved, business should be in full swing.
He said, with issues like certification and standards resolved, he would be looking in that direction.
“Like pineapple, watermelon, citrus, papaw and those kinds of fruits would be perfect,” Patel identified.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kwhame Gittens, of Central Florida Chamber of Commerce, who also came to GuyExpo to find new investment opportunities, said he has since been in talks with Barama Company Limited.
He said that he will be looking at timber exports from Guyana to Jamaica where he owns a company.
Gittens said GuyExpo 2012 was a good initiative and more local businesses should have participated so that more partnership could have been formed.
“I think it’s good. I think we could have had some more stalls but I think it was good. The more vendors you encourage, the more investors will come to do business for export,” he offered.
Gittens said, in Guyana, he has an interest in buying food products to provide the large Guyanese diaspora back home.
“I would want to export food into Jamaica where I have a trading company. There’s a large Guyanese diaspora in Florida and they want their achar and Indian madras curry and they want the Banks beer,” he disclosed.