Former Jamaica PM to address GCCI gala on CARICOM-Guyana trade relations

Nov 17, 2019 News

Former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Portia Simpson-Miller, is set to address a Business gala to be hosted by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) on November 28, 2019.

Former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Portia Simpson-Miller

The Gala and Award Dinner, to be held at the Marriot Hotel, comes at a time when the Georgetown Chamber is charging Government to seriously assess the usefulness of its relationship with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) due to the fact that trade barriers have been used time and time again to disenfranchise Guyanese businesses.
GCCI President, Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer, hopes that Simpson-Miller can offer fresh insight into this matter. The Chamber posited, during a Wednesday press conference, that though Guyana’s trade relationship with Jamaica has been among the better relationships Guyana shares with the community, even Jamaica has posed its share of difficulty.
GCCI Senior Vice President Timothy Tucker said that when Guyana attained the right to export poultry, Jamaica’s Chief Veterinary Officer had cited the lack of traceability of water as a concern. For a country like Guyana that does a lot of poultry on the highway, Tucker said that a lot of the water use is from creeks, instead of municipal water.
Such a small issue would turn out to have a big impact on poultry farmers in Guyana who want to export to Jamaica.
It’s part of a wider series of micro-aggressions from the community, particularly from Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad & Tobago.
“They’re utilizing every trick in the book to block Guyana from being the breadbasket of the Caribbean,” said Tucker, last Wednesday.
Deygoo-Boyer said “We’re very interested to hear from the former Prime Minister and I think it will be good to have a powerful female leader to understand her perspective, especially as a woman.”
Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo told Kaieteur News on Thursday that Guyana must stay in CARICOM but that the market must treat Guyana fairly.

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