The continuing influx of Chinese traders into Guyana has evoked mixed reactions from government, local business enterprises and consumers, all of whom have had something to say about the impact of their advent on the retail trade, particularly in clothing and apparel.
The most robust reaction so far has come from owners of downtown retail outlets, clothing vendors and small garment manufacturers many of whom are ‘dead set’ against what one Regent Street retailer described as “a Chinese invasion.” On the whole, local traders in clothing and apparel regard the growing presence of the Chinese traders as a competitive threat which they will be hard-pressed to cope with. While none of the established businesses with whom this newspaper spoke were prepared to publicly assume an anti-Chinese posture, none was prepared to accord them much more than a grudging accommodation.
Those Regent Street clothing and accessories traders with whom Stabroek Business spoke said that they are already beginning to feel the impact of the presence of the Chinese competition. “They have access to cheap goods from factories in China and their prices are low. We import from the US and elsewhere. We cannot compete,” one Regent street businessman told this newspaper. Other traders concurred pointing out that clothing and accessories manufactured in China benefit from low labour costs.
“I am concerned about their numbers,” another downtown businessman told Stabroek Business. “I honestly believe that a new Chinese establishment opens in this city every week.” Recent perusal of Georgetown turned up at least a dozen Chinese enterprises most of them offering the same items for sale. The increased demand for storefront property has reportedly pushed rental prices up and most vacated trading premises are quickly occupied by Chinese merchants.
Chinese manufactured clothing and other goods are no longer a novelty in Guyana. Their clothing, particularly, has become particularly popular on the local market. Abbie, a local seamstress says that, these days, casual clothing sold by Chinese merchants, have all of the decorative and style characteristics of clothing imported from the USA. “The difference is that the Chinese sell cheaper and everybody is looking for a better deal.” The Chinese, Abbie says, are also threatening the small operators in the garment manufacturing industry. “People like me,” she says. “They are bringing in attractive dresses and shirts. These days people buy clothing from Chinese shops to wear to weddings.”
Critics have expressed doubts over the quality of the goods which they offer for sale and some consumers have indeed told this newspaper that they have had reason to return goods which, for one reason or another did not perform to expectations. When we visited one of the larger Chinese trading outlets in Robb Street a few days ago a woman was remonstrating with the proprietor over the fact that the clasps put in place to adjust the ‘fit’ of a cap which she had bought recently had fallen off as soon as she had attempted to adjust them. She appeared to be getting nowhere.
Nor were her remonstrations doing much to persuade the other shoppers rummaging around inside the establishment that they were running a risk by buying there.
When Stabroek Business spoke with the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, however, we were told that consumer complaints regarding the quality of Chinese clothing were really no higher than any other category of complaints. “We get lots of complaints about Chinese stoves and other such items but complaints about clothing are not prevalent.
Government, we are told, is easy with the steady growth of a Chinese merchant class in Guyana. Industry and Commerce Minister Manniram Prashad told Stabroek Business several months ago that the proliferation of Chinese traders in Guyana was entirely consistent with the government’s open door investment policy. The other point made by the Minister at the time was that the presence of Chinese traders would have a positive impact on the competitiveness of local businesses.
Some local entrepreneurs see it differently. Abbie, for example, is concerned that cheaper Chinese clothing could affect the market for seamstresses. “It might mean that our women might get accustomed to cheap Chinese clothing and might forget about us.” Similar concerns have been expressed by some members of the Guyana Art and Craft Producers Association who, during the 2009 GuyExpo, pointed to what they felt was a customer preference for cheaper Chinese and other handicraft imports. President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Komal Ramnauth has told Stabroek Business that the Chamber “has some concerns” with the way in which some of the Chinese traders were operating. “The point is, however, that the irregularities that we are concerned about also apply to other traders including local traders. “The primary concern of the Chamber has to do with businesses operating within the law. If they pay their taxes, pay their workers’ NIS contributions, treat their workers well and otherwise observe the laws of the country we would have no problem with them.” Ramnauth is also hoping that Chinese business houses might become members of the Chamber though he says that only one such enterprise has sought membership up until now. The responses of the Chinese traders to our efforts to speak with them suggest that they favour a condition as close as possible to anonymity. They claim a limited understanding of English even though you suspect that their disinclination to communicate has to do with more than a language barrier. Their Guyanese employees are mostly teenaged and young adult females who aggressively market the goods under the watchful eye of their employer. It took some persuasion before an employee of one of the Regent Street stores agreed to talk to Stabroek Business. She told us that she badly needed the job and did not want “any trouble.” When she finally spoke she told us that she believed that the Chinese traders were “suspicious people.” By that she meant that they did not appear to trust anyone. “It’s the English,” she says. “If you say anything that they don’t understand they become nervous.”
Several of the outfits are run by mostly young families and the young employee with whom she spoke said that they only hire locals because “we know the customers.” She says that they learn quickly and are always trying to understand a little bit more about Guyanese culture and Guyanese tastes so that they can apply what they learn to their business,
Ramnauth points to some of the more well-entrenched Chinese businesses like the main street up market restaurant New Thriving and the Robb Street utility store China Trading as examples of popular local Chinese business houses. “We cannot ignore the Chinese traders as a part of our own business community,” he says. Others feel that even if they were willing to do so, it’s hard to ignore them.
