GuyExpo opened last evening with President Bharrat Jagdeo announcing that within 10 days Norway will deposit US$30 million into the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF), the first payment under the forest protection Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the two countries.
“Since early 2009 we’ve been selling forest package services and though six months late the first payment of US$30 million is now being processed. It will be deposited in the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) in the next 10 days,” Jagdeo said. “This is the first payment of its kind anywhere in the world,” the President said adding that it represents the development of a new global carbon economy.
The first payment enables us to get started with removing our entire economy from fossil fuel dependence…and will form part of the government’s investment in the hydroelectricity plant at the Amaila Falls,” he said. Jagdeo said that “the work to ensure that Amaila is built in a way that adheres to internationally recognized financial, social and environment standards is now well underway, in parallel with detailed financial and engineering work that will lead to the project’s construction.” “Once we are assured that the environmental and social impacts are taken care of government will authorize the contractor of the access road to commence construction,” he added.
Jagdeo’s announcement was the high point in a rather low-key opening ceremony marred by intermittent rain, which sent attendees running for shelter at various points. And as the opening ceremony was in progress at the National Exhibition Centre in Sophia, the sound of hammers pounding nails permeated the air as several exhibitors hurried to finish their booths on time.
Commerce Minister Manniram Prashad described GuyExpo as a “tool for economic development”. The minister urged participants to explore the numerous investment opportunities that exist in the country and to try to develop more products. More emphasis, he said, must be placed on developing value added products, increasing exports and improving quality. He said that this year’s event has attracted participants from Brazil, India, Mexico and Suriname.
GuyExpo has been described as the country’s largest trade and investment event, aimed specifically at providing an opportunity for local businesses to showcase their products. The promise every year is that GuyExpo will be “bigger and better” than the previous year and it appears that this year the event may indeed be “bigger” with the booths displayed in a more spacious manner.
In the lead up to the event, Prashad said through GINA that organizers were
making an effort to attract more participants from the Arts and Craft Producers’ Association and the Manufacturing sector. “The manufacturing sector will be given priority during the exhibition as the main pavilion that previously accommodated approximately 86 booths… will now be occupied entirely by the manufacturing sector,” the release said. There were exhibits from several of the larger local furniture-making companies when this newspaper visited the auditorium last evening.
Some of the popular local food distributors, government agencies and ministries, as well as art, craft and jewellery exhibitors were also prominently on display in some of the other buildings housing exhibits. Some businesses such as the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) said that they would be using the event to launch new products.
Ram Prashad, the manager of Prestige Manufacturing and Bottling Enterprise, said that his company has participated in GuyExpo for the last three to four years with much success. GuyExpo, Prashad said, provides his company with the opportunity to showcase its products particularly to persons living outside of Georgetown. One of the relatively new products that the company will be hoping to push is the bottled “Karaila in Lime Sauce”, which Prashad described as being very healthy.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) had an unscaled model of what the Amaila Falls hydropower plant will look like when it is eventually completed on display. This booth is geared primarily towards informing the public about developments in the Energy Sector.
GuyExpo was launched in 1995 by the Guyana Office for Investment (Go Invest), the Guyana Manufacturers’ Association and the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce as a biennial event to showcase locally produced goods and services. The event became an annual one in 2004.
The theme for this year’s event is “Expanding Investment in a Sustainable Environment” and it will run until October 5.
