Major follow-through from GuyExpo 2000
by Sharon Lall
THE Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry is to review a list of more than 200 local exhibitors at last month's GuyExpo trade show and help make business links for them in the Caribbean and North America, Trade Minister Geoffrey Da Silva has said. The list now on hand at the ministry has to be updated since it does not reflect the total registration number at the Sophia exhibition. Da Silva told the Chronicle Monday the list his ministry is using should assist with the networking aspect of each business. As a follow-up, he said links could also be made in the information and tourism sectors. GuyExpo 2000, one of the biggest exhibitions to be held attracted tens of thousands of people. In one night only, organisers reported an attendance of more than 40,000. Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon on Friday joined with Cabinet and the rest of the nation in officially commending Da Silva for his ministry's successful hosting of the event. Da Silva has maintained, too, that he wants to review the list of all the exhibitors at GuyExpo and help them make linkages mainly in North America and the Caribbean, and Venezuela, Suriname and Brazil. "Our companies and the government have to see where the goal is in a trade show and an exhibition - it is the follow-through with your contact list...The big payoff comes after," he noted. Da Silva said this year's Guyexpo was "bigger and better". It is an indication, he said, that opportunities exist for the Guyanese economy to grow at a much faster pace provided market studies are done along with information sharing within the private and public sector. Prompted by the response from GuyExpo, the Ministry of Trade plans to do a major promotion in Toronto and New York early next month to advertise Guyana as a tourist destination, especially through combination packages like the type offered through the national airline GA2000 and the Lake Mainstay resort in Essequibo. It is also likely to have a promotional tour in Trinidad next month. This year, furniture (nibbi), handicraft, jewellery, agro-processing, Ricks and Sari bottled products and packaging and computer-related services were the top showpieces at GuyExpo. Among overseas companies which sent representatives to GuyExpo were Harold and Sandra Partab T-shirt firm (Toronto); International hair and wigs; Green Win Property Management; Caribbean Radio (Atlanta); Pricewater Housekeepers (Toronto); CEOBNE Fineprinting and Boone Trucking company from Texas. The public event had teams from Grenada, St Lucia, Barbados, Trinidad, the United States, Jamaica, Suriname and Brazil. Da Silva said some of the visitors came to get a "feel for the Guyanese economy" and observe what is happening and what is being produced here, while others were scouting for investment possibilities. He said the commendation for the success of GuyExpo should be directed not to any individual, in particular, but to the entire organising committee which is a joint government/private sector body. Patrick Persaud, Percy Boyce, the late Minister Michael Shree Chan and Avinash Bhagwandin are among the key figures who helped build on what is now GuyExpo, he said. The minister commended Satie Sawh, the coordinator of the National Exhibition Centre, Permanent Secretary Sonia Roopnauth and Laxhmie Kalicharran, the coordinator of entertainment and staff in general at GuyExpo, for working beyond the call of duty during the preparation stage. Owing to GuyExpo, a team from New York is looking at buying a hotel in Guyana and doing some "innovative marketing" within the overseas-Guyanese community in New York, the Chronicle understands. Investors from South Korea last week left the country after meeting President Bharrat Jagdeo and Prime Minister Sam Hinds and expressed an interest in exploring a number of projects involving mining and oil exploration. And three members from the private sector organisation in the State of Roraima, Brazil were at GuyExpo with the task of collecting business cards and doing profiles of the products on display. They have since returned to Brazil where a presentation is to be done to the private sector body in that country. A 15-member Grenadian delegation, many of whom have their own "contacts" here, were at GuyExpo examining the local agriculture sector, fruits, vegetables and agro-processed foods. Da Silva said visitors from Toronto were more interested in tourism. Some of them want to set up a travel service either in Guyana or Canada to shuttle more tourists here. One overseas-based observer was a Senior Vice-President of a major publishing company in Toronto, who also arranged several visits to Guyana each year. Another is a Guyanese-born CBS senior news reporter in New York, who has been engaging the minister in talks on how to find different news angles regarding tourism in Guyana. A journalist who works with a radio station in Atlanta, in the United States has also been trying to work out some ideas on how to do more promotion of eco-tourism in Atlanta. The minister said Suriname had two rice officials in the country. Both attended meetings with the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) to discuss rice programmes between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific group. David Jessop, from the Caribbean Council for Europe, visited Guyexpo and took time out to have discussions about eco-tourism and the European market, in which much more work is likely to be done next year, he said. Jessop is doing a special project for the Caribbean Hotel Association with the European Union, the Chronicle was told.  Follow the goings-on in Guyana
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