Korean businessmen see ‘a lot of opportunities’ in Guyana

Jan 26, 2010 News

Top Korean businessmen looking to buy raw materials from Guyana to fuel their country’s industries say they see “a lot of opportunities to co-operate in the very near future.”
Dr Wan-Hee Kim, Chairman of the Korea Importers Association (Koima) told Kaieteur News yesterday he sees opportunities to buy bauxite, sugar and forest products, and possibly invest in some of these sectors.
Kim, who is also Guyana’s Honorary Consul in Seoul, is leading a delegation of businessmen of Kioma to Guyana. Yesterday, they met with Guyanese businessmen at the Pegasus hotel.
Brian James, Korea’s Honorary Consul in Georgetown, told this newspaper that he sees one of the greatest opportunities in the area of wood products. He said this because in Korea, wooden doors, floors and kitchen cupboards are a rarity because it is so expensive.
“What we are doing in Guyana (in forest products) could prove to be very attractive,” he said.
James, a well-known city businessman, said what is noteworthy about the mission of the Korean businessmen is that they are here to buy, as opposed to other business missions where foreign companies look to sell to Guyana.
“I would like to see us in Guyana sell them something and start the ball rolling,” James told Kaieteur News.
Guyana’s products are already being sold to Korea, but Kim was not prepared to disclose what companies are doing business with Korea. However, he pointed out that Korean imports from Guyana dropped as much as 47 percent last year.
Again, however, he was not ready to give other specific figures.
Guyana and Korea established diplomatic relations in 1968 and since then have signed several agreements to boost trade.
Kim said Korea experienced hard times during the financial recession that took effect worldwide last year, but said the situation is stabilising. He said this was responsible for the drop in imports from Guyana, but the time has come to boost trade volumes.
Korean Minister within the Korean Embassy in Caracas, Lim Jong-seon, said since the 1970s, Korean has been expanding its economic development and the country was willing to share its experiences with Guyana.
He identified one prospective area for business as sand, saying this country’s sand is rated as being of the best quality in the world.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manniram Prashad, told the Korean businessmen that Guyana is a country on the move with tremendous opportunities for investment.
He said Guyana offers investment incentives, duty free-concessions, and a friendly business environment.
Prashad noted that one of the goals of the National Competitiveness Strategy is to further improve this country’s investor climate.

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Korean businessmen see ‘a lot of opportunities’ in Guyana

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