Over 100 investments, export leads secured from overseas trade missions – Go-Invest CEO

Mar 12, 2019 News

---

The Guyana Office For Investment (Go-Invest) embarked on a number of overseas trade missions last year, all of which have turned out to be a success. This was noted yesterday by Go-Invest’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Owen Verwey.
He was at the time delivering remarks at a press conference which was facilitated at Duke Lodge in Kingstown.
Verwey said that as a result of the missions and other activities, Go-Invest was able to secure 115 investment leads and 56 export leads, including significant leads for traditional exports like rum, as well as non-traditional exports like frozen fruit pulp.
He said that follow-up activities to capitalize on these leads have commenced.
Elaborating further, Verwey said that important inward missions facilitated by GO-Invest in 2018 were from Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Canada, Brazil, China, French Guiana and Aruba. He said that these included privately organized missions.
Verwey said that there were also pivotal outward missions to the Caribbean, Latin America, China, Cuba, North America and others, especially to promote forestry, food products, and large-scale agriculture.
The Go-Invest CEO said that the success of the Agency’s activities in 2018 was heavily based on a commitment to responsible management of funds in order to get maximum mileage from Current and Capital Subventions amounting to $218,750,000. He said that strategic participation in trade and investment events in several nations and other key activities were based on best-value considerations.
Verwey said that among the major events attended was the first annual China International Import Expo at which Guyana was represented by public and private sector delegates led by the Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin.
He said that the nation’s wood products, rum and processed foods were well received at the event.
Another significant mission, he said, was to the 201 8 Trinidad Investment Convention. Through collaboration with the Guyana Rice Development Board, Verwey said that GO-Invest along with six Guyanese Rice Producers successfully attended Expo Antad, a Food and Beverage Exposition that is held in Mexico.
To promote mining, Verwey said that GO-Invest attended the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), and facilitated a Guyana Mining Day event to showcase projects in Guyana to prospective investors. He said that that event featured five mining companies operating in Guyana.
In terms of tourism promotion, Verwey said that GO-Invest attended the Hotel Opportunities Latin America (HOLA) and Caribbean Hotel and Resort Investment Summit (CHRIS) held in Miami and showcased four Guyanese tourism projects.
He said, too, that GO-Invest also attended the Havana International Fair (FIHAV) in Cuba along with several local companies, and found market opportunities were available for exporting Guyana’s sorrel, forestry products, tourism, rum, as well as poultry.
In addition, the CEO said that the Agency conducted a strong promotion campaign for local food and beverages that included attendance to events like IMBIBE LIVE 2018 in the UK; SIAL, a food and beverage show in Canada; and LAC Flavors, among others.
Further to this, Verwey said that other core promotion events and presentations organized or facilitated by GO-Invest in 2018 included the inaugural Guyana International Petroleum Expo at the Guyana Marriott Hotel attended by over 500 Delegates in the Oil and Gas Industry which realized a number of partnerships and joint ventures.
He said, too, that GO-Invest collaborated with the National Exhibition Centre and the Caribbean Export Development Agency to host the inaugural Guyana Trade and Investment Exhibition (GUYTIE) at the Guyana Marriott Hotel.
He said that this event facilitated over 200 Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings and attracted 56 Guyanese companies and 113 buyers from multiple countries including Barbados, Trinidad, Brazil, Venezuela, Korea, Cuba, India, St Lucia and Canada.
Verwey said that GO-Invest participated in several events across Guyana in 2018 to move trade and investment forward, such as the Regional Agriculture and Commerce Expo (RACE); the Guyana Timber Expo, Essequibo Agro and Trade Expo; the Guyana Revenue Authority Retirement Seminar; the Rose Hall Career and Business Fair; the Moruca Expo; and the Indigenous Village 2018: Lethem Town Week and Career Day.
He said that this participation involved highlighting services and opportunities available from GO-Invest, awareness of investment incentives and some general market awareness information.
Apart from the successful 2018 programme of activities, Verwey said that the Agency is also engaged in a number of ongoing activities across several years. He said, “For example, GO-Invest is a member of Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA), which provides training in areas related to investment and export promotion, assists with funding for attachments to learn best practices and hosting of promotional activities.”
At this point, Verwey said that GO-Invest is preparing for several major events including the Guyana International Petroleum Business Summit and Exhibition (GIPEX) 2019.
He said, too, that the Agency is also actively engaged in hiring consultants for the Trade and Investment Framework and the Investment Review and Export Strategy under the National Quality Infrastructure Project.

---

---