Serving as a platform for Chinese enterprises to gain footholds particularly in the North American market is turning into a serious contest at the four-day fair.

Caribbean Day saw presentations by representatives of the regional countries participating in the fair: Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, The Bahamas, St Lucia, Suriname and Antigua. The presentations followed a symbolic ribbon cutting ceremony. There was however no delicate silk ribbon to cut but robust Sanata-type red cotton which required at least half a minute and two scissors in the hands of China’s Vice-Premier Madame Wu Yi for it to be snipped end to end. Taking it in good stride, the Vice- Premier smiled broadly and exchanged toasts with the ministers gathered at the end of the ceremony.

When the investment seminar got underway, the head of the Guyana mission, John Isaacs highlighted the proposed integration project between Guyana and the Brazilian state of Roraima. In prepared remarks, Isaacs, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and International Co-operation noted that the industrial corridor would encompass a heavy-duty cargo highway linking Boa Vista to Georgetown, a deep-draught port on the Atlantic Coast, a hydro-electric plant in Guyana, power transmission lines from the power plant to Georgetown and Boa Vista and fibre optic cables and repeating stations connecting the two cities to the Americas II submarine cable network. The project, he declared, °will generate great investment opportunities in infrastructure.

Isaacs also promoted fresh and processed food contending that the local weather pattern was conducive and that experts from Asia, Europe and North America had all confirmed that Guyana was one of the best locations in the world for aquaculture.

He also promoted the wood products sector noting that with its °many forests, Guyana offered logging and wood processing prospects. In the textile area, he pointed out that this country was entitled to export garments to the United States duty free.

Isaacs told the gathering that an investment code had been recently developed to provide for a more transparent and streamlined process for the approval of investments. He also advertised the proposed investment law although this was sent to a select committee of parliament and was not finally dealt with before the parliamentary recess now underway. He noted that under the investment bill the rights and obligations of investors were guaranteed.

The Permanent Secretary also highlighted that a Chinese consortium CNTIC Trading Co had been chosen to build a modern sugar factory at Skeldon as part of a US$100M project partly funded by the China Exim Bank. The bilateral investment treaty between Guyana and China sealed during President Bharrat Jagdeo’s visit to Beijing earlier this year was also cited by Isaacs. When Stabroek News visited the Guyana booth, its representatives were away at lunch but there were timber and rum samples available.

Yesterday, in addition to promoting itself as a gateway for China to the region, Suriname was also locked in intense discussions with the state oil company of China on the bidding series Paramaribo plans for its offshore oil areas. Bidding for offshore oil exploration blocks all along its coast is scheduled to get underway in November and conclude in May 2004. Negotiations with the Chinese were being headed yesterday by Eddie S Jharap, Managing Director of the State Oil Company Suriname NV.

Marcel Meyer, President of the Suriname Trade and Industry Association told Stabroek News yesterday that China wanted to access markets in Caricom, the Association of Caribbean States and the proposed FTAA. Paramaribo is therefore keen to be a strategic platform for the Chinese. He said Suriname was prepared to open up its various sectors to China in return for investment, skills, technology and efficiency.

He suggested that it would be wise for Guyana and Suriname to team up and make use of synergies in trying to clinch Chinese investment as China was interested in big business. He said he had not been able thus far to hold discussions with the Guyanese delegation on this issue.

While the experience so far had been eye-opening, Meyer said that the next time around there would have to be a regional committee planning the Caribbean’s participation to ensure that there was no duplication and that effective use was made of floor space and other facilities. He has already spoken to the Barbados and Trinidad delegations on this issue.

Jamaica is also parading its advantages as a regional platform for China. Its Project Officer, Business Development at the Port Authority of Jamaica, Robert Stephens told Stabroek News yesterday that being located relatively near to the Panama Canal and in the Atlantic puts Jamaica smack in the middle of vital shipping lanes. He said that the Jamaican booth had had a very good response and had been meeting with a number of companies which wanted to locate in Jamaica and use it as a hub for distribution of products to regional markets. He noted that the port capacity was being expanded from 1.2 million 20-ft containers to 1.5 million. This expanded port is expected to tie in with the transshipment facilities in Kingston and a duty-free shopping mall in Montego Bay. The hub would encompass the manufacturing/warehousing, display, sale and distribution of products.

Stephens said several Chinese companies had already shown interest and negotiations were to be pursued. Stephens said Jamaica was positioning itself to become the °Dubai of the Caribbean” and a master plan was being created for this. He said he had personally visited every booth at the China International Fair for Investment and Trade to advertise what the island nation had to offer.

In its presentation earlier in the day, Trinidad and Tobago pointed to its low energy costs and also access to regional markets as well as investment opportunities in the downstream energy sector among other areas. On Monday, Executive Officer in the Office of the President, Leon Lue Yat had told Stabroek News at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Centre that Trinidad was orienting itself towards being the strategic gateway for China to US and other markets.

Caribbean Day was inaugurated with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Star Capital Corporation of the Bahamas and China’s CITIC group on the establishment of a China Commodities Distribution Centre in The Bahamas.

Yesterday saw continued expressions of interest in the Caribbean as an investment site and in its goods. The fair ends tomorrow (Thursday).