Latest update November 8th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Expect a “different” Guyexpo – Tourism Minister
Staying true to this year’s Guyexpo theme, “Developing Guyana through Innovation”, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Irfaan Ali, expressed confidence at a press briefing yesterday, that this year’s exhibition will be bigger and better than previous ones.
As it stands, the National Exhibition Centre in Sophia has registered 353 exhibition booths with the Minister stating that the planning committee is aiming for 400.
Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali (centre) with members of the Guyexpo Planning Committee
The Guyexpo 2014 Committee members present at the forum included; Derrick Cummings, the Co-Chairman; Lennox Canterbury, the Entertainment Manager; Indranauth Haralsingh, Finance Manager; Carla Chandra, Protocol Manager; Johnny Berkley, Safety & Security Manager and Temeca Sukhdeo-Singh, Event Coordinator.
The Minister emphasized that this year’s exhibition aspires to be “different” with greater participation from the Private Sector in order to grow and develop the country’s economy.
According to Chandra, the exhibition will also be showcasing international exhibitors, from 10 countries -Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Bangladesh, Antigua, French Guiana, India, Pakistan, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago. These international delegates, according to the Protocol Manager, will be participating under the categories of “business, manufacturing, ITT, Food Processing, Renewable energy, Fashion Design and Arts & Crafts.” From the point of view of the organizers, these participants mark a higher than ever international interest in the exhibition.
As part of the forum, the planning committee also unveiled their plans to lessen the burden of commuting for citizens heading in the vicinity. One of their plans includes the assigning of free parking within the Guyexpo compound to vehicles with a carriage capacity of 15 persons, between the hours of 14:00hrs and 16:00hrs on Saturday and Sunday.
Minister Ali also pointed out another problem that commuters mentioned in an exit survey from last year’s Guyexpo. Patrons who live outside Georgetown in communities such as Port Mourant, New Amsterdam, Tuschen and Parika, to name a few, said that they faced difficulty in returning home whenever they had concluded their visit to the exhibition.
To remedy this problem, Ali said that the committee “has made special arrangements with bus operators to have special transportation available to bring persons from those areas to Guyexpo and return them at 11:00 in the night at a fixed cost. This we hope will allow for more persons from these areas to be able to be part of the Guyexpo experience.”
Additionally, the exhibition committee has also put in place an official Guyexpo taxi service to remedy the issue of transportation for patrons.
As the largest trade fair in Guyana, organizers also made certain that precautions to ensure safety are a top priority. According to Berkley, “the facility is designed to accommodate 1500 parked vehicles and [that] every effort will be made to secure those vehicles”. The Safety & Security Manager also took the time to appeal to the public to cooperate and leave their firearms at the nearest police station before entering the National Exhibition Centre.
For the opening ceremony, set for Thursday, October 3, the committee announced that there will be presentations from the Tourism Ministry, the Private Sector, followed by national and international performances with the keynote address from President Donald Ramotar. Moreover, the following days of Guyexpo will have entertainment starting from 9:00pm and ending at 12:00am.
According to the Entertainment Manager, each night will have a different platform of entertainment. He stated that Friday night will be focusing on “100 percent local Guyanese talent”; Saturday night is set to be the Arthur Guinness Night which is fully sponsored by Banks DIH, and Sunday will be sponsored by Ansa McAl, which will feature a culmination of all the past nights’ entertainment activities.
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