he visit will see him touring some 10 provinces.

He made the announcement following a conducted tour of the G&C Sanata Company Inc at the Ruimveldt Industrial Site in Georgetown yesterday, but said he was still in the process of putting together his delegation which will most likely include a private sector team.

The President, who was accompanied by Minister of Tourism and Industry, Mr. Manzoor Nadir and Head of the Privatisation Unit, Mr. Winston Brassington, also expressed satisfaction with the company's operations and assured management of his Government's continued support.

The tour was conducted by the company's Managing Director, Mr. Chen Rong, who later gave a brief outline of the operations.

G&C Sanata Company Inc, formerly the State-owned Sanata Textiles, is a subsidiary of the China Textile Industrial Corporation for Foreign Economic and Technical Cooperation in South America and the Caribbean (CTEXIC).

The visit which served as an opportunity for the President to familarise himself with the joint Guyana/China venture, allowed him to view the process of designing, the actual printing and several pieces of finished products ready for the market, including a batch for export to Cuba.

Rong, at a brief session in the company's conference room, explained that G&C Sanata Company Inc has already made inroads into the Caribbean market and will this year focus on getting markets in the United States and Canada.

In addition to Cuba, its other markets include Barbados, Suriname, Antigua, Saint Lucia, Jamaica and Trinidad Exports peak at about 50 per cent, and according to Rong the goal is to reach 90 per cent as the focus is to produce high quality material that can stand up to competition in the U.S. market.

He pointed out that the material being printed now is specially for the Caribbean and Guyana markets.

To date the company has 200 varieties of printed fabric and 95 varieties of dyeing fabric.

The range includes curtain, dress, kitchen, army camouflage material printed specially for Suriname, bandanas, flags, nine varieties of bleached material, uniform material, nurses caps and varying colours of a fire-resistant material especially suitable for use by the Fire Service and Police Force.

The President was also shown the first printed material for which the entire input - designing and other aspects - was by the Guyanese workforce.

He was presented with five yards of the material by the management.

Rong pointed out that because the company is new it is yet to show a profit margin.

The production capacity is targeted at 10 million millimetres and to date output is 1.3 million millimetres, he said.

He does not expect to see a profit before a 5 million millimetres production capacity is achieved.

The company, which has a diverse staff complement of 100 Guyanese, including some just out of high school, and 13 expatriates, expends some US$2.6M to cover its expenses.

President Jagdeo noted that the `Sanata' operations fit in with the efforts by the Guyana Government to improve the life of Guyanese, including the use of value-added products.

"I am really impressed to see what is happening at the factory. It fits in with much of the things that we are trying to encourage -- more value-added type of activities, linkages between industries, expansion and diversification of the economy in other areas," he said.

He added that the Government is prepared to continue and build on the relationship even at the technical level.

He spoke too during the brief meeting of having had discussions with a group interested in operating a daily bus service between Manaus, Brazil and Guyana, which according to the President is being viewed as the opening of linkages for future export markets.

Once this initiative is concretised, it can also be an opening for G&C Sanata Company Inc/Textiles.

Mrs. Khan, a supervisor in the printing section, recalled to the President that the former company used to print material for use in essential Government services such as hospitals but said this practice has since been discontinued.

According to the President, he has been emphasing during his Cabinet meetings that local products, once they are of standard quality, should be utilised.