A high level mission from Guyana representing the Government and the Private Sector recently participated at a trade and exposition forum in neighbouring Suriname.
According to Chief Executive Officer of GO-INVEST, Mr. Geoffrey DaSilva, some 26 companies/businesses in Guyana participated in the exposition, which was deemed very successful in terms of creating and forging trading links with businesses in Suriname.
According to Mr. Da Silva, the idea of having a trade and investment exposition in Suriname had been under discussions for a number of years and in its work programme for this year, the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-INVEST) has taken a decision to go to Suriname this year.
The importance of cross-border trade with our neighbour on the east cannot be overemphasized. Guyana and Suriname, despite our linguistic differences, have much in common. The size of the Guyanese community in Suriname is quite significant, which makes it all the more necessary for the two countries to deepen relations both in the area of trade and commerce and at the cultural level.
The visit of President Bharat Jagdeo to Suriname a few months ago has no doubt added fresh impetus to the forging of links between the two countries. It is noteworthy that the support from the Guyana Embassy in Suriname and from the business community there was no less enthusiastic.
Both Guyana and Suriname are relatively small in size, a factor that puts them at a disadvantage in terms of market size. The development of trade links especially in the non-traditional areas where market opportunities are still limited could prove mutually beneficial and help to provide that additional stimuli necessary for market expansion for such products.
The Guyana Office for Investment deserves commendation for this important initiative. This is the first such time that something like this ever happened where Guyanese companies along with Government representatives have journeyed to neighboring Suriname to, as it were, showcase their wares. From all indications, the response was quite encouraging and augurs well for the promotion of trade between the two countries.
Now that Suriname has been accorded membership to CARICOM, there is an even stronger case for the strengthening of trade relations. There is tremendous scope for inter-regional trade, which regrettably is very much skewed in favour of the more developed countries. The import bill for food from outside the region is still staggeringly high.
One hopes that this proactive approach to finding markets for our products will be replicated in other countries. In these times of fierce competition in the global marketplace, it is vitally important that we adopt aggressive approaches to secure markets. And, like Mahomet, since the market will not come to us, we must go to the market.