BOOTH CHECK: President Bharrat Jagdeo, Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister, Mr. Manzoor Nadir, in garland, checking the GT&T booth at GUYEXPO.
GUYEXPO 2002, 'The Call to El Dorado', got off to a promising start Thursday afternoon with President Bharrat Jagdeo officially declaring the four-day event open amidst high commendations for its improved quality and standard by those in attendance.

"This fifth biennial trade and investment exposition is a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit of our people. The many exhibits on display tell of the creative powers resident in our people and which we must do everything to propel rather than restrain," the President told a gathering including Government officials, diplomats, and dignitaries at the opening ceremony.

He commended the efforts of the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry and its Minister, Mr. Manzoor Nadir for doing "a wonderful job" and urged the gathering to observe the journey the country has embarked upon in search of modernisation and development when they visit the various booths.

"I would want you to note the technological skills and the imagination of our entrepreneurs. I want to commend their boldness in the face of global challenges and socially unacceptable behaviour locally," he said.

EXHIBITORS: President Jagdeo meets GUYEXPO exhibitors Thursday night.
Minister Nadir had promised that this year's trade promotion extravaganza will be the biggest since its inception in 1995, with more than 140 exhibitors and an anticipated 75,000 paid visitors attending the event and with the looks of things, this will indeed be the largest.

Giving an overview of what it took to create the ideal environment for Guyanese and the overseas visitors to experience what Guyana has to offer, he said that in excess of $26M has been spent on physical site preparations with significant work being done on the fence, the main auditorium roof, and the purchase of a stand-by generator which was running at the time.

Thirteen buildings were rehabilitated on the site, a new entertainment area created, stage constructed, grounds developed, parapets spruced up, trees beautifully trimmed, and new public facilities installed.

Nadir explained that the germination of the exhibition began as early as September last year as the final report of GUYEXPO 2000 was being prepared. The thoughts then centred on two objectives - to produce the next exposition that would capture the economy and society in action and to have an exposition that set new standards in facilities and operations.

He said the first draft of the plans was produced as early as October 2001 and in April, Cabinet was presented with that and the budget.

More than 300 loads of sand and loam were taken into the site, 300 tons of stone used and 10 contractors employed more than 60 persons who, Nadir said, worked tirelessly over the past two months.

"These works laid the foundation for us being here today," he stated.

He announced that to support these efforts, promotional plans were launched in August in Guyana and overseas with more than 700 invitations issued locally, 500 overseas, and mass media campaigns.

By August 26, more than 130 exhibitors had already secured spots and now have at their disposal some 20,000 sq ft of space for food, entertainment and games.

Guests from several countries including Korea, Canada, U.S., Brazil, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Israel will also be in attendance.

Mr. Percy Boyce, Administrator of GUYEXPO and all the hard working staff of this year's preparation team received a hearty round of applause from the audience.

Before declaring the event open, President Jagdeo commented on the current crime situation gripping the country, but also noted that the Government is doing is a lot for the development of the nation.

He said the Government has already secured a project loan of more than US$400M that will be disbursed over the next few years.

"My job is to accelerate the disbursement of these loans. US$400M spent in our economy could generate thousands of jobs, could accelerate economic growth, could take people out of poverty and could provide the infrastructural basis for private sector growth...," he stated.

The President noted that many would be concerned that the borrowing will lead to a higher debt situation, but he assured that in spite of the borrowing, the debt the country had 10 years ago has been reduced by half.

"We are providing the financing to modernise our economy but we are doing this not (at) the expense of our future generation and to lead them into a huge debt burden," he assured.

President Jagdeo referred to the recently announced International Monetary Fund (IMF) credit of US$73M for Guyana, noting that the Government is glad about the signal that this is sending to the rest of the world - that it is practising sound economic policies and that there is good financial and economical governance which will allow many other institutions to move ahead with further debt relief and assistance for Guyana.

He said the Government needs to talk of its achievements so that those abroad can realise that Guyana has come a far way in spite of all the problems of social unrest, crime and instability it is facing from time to time.

"And we have defied all the (odds) and have moved forward," he said, listing many other things the Government has achieved, including liberalising trade and at the same time affording some level of protection to fledgling industries, and passing new security legislation. These, he said, were difficult tasks and required hundreds of consultations.

"We have also improved tremendously the tax incentives of the private business community."

Noting that he cannot list all that the Government has done, the President urged the gathering to look in the past if they think things are bad today. "Things have improved tremendously today," he stated.