It was perhaps inevitable that comparisons would be made between what was officially billed as a one-off event, last weekend’s three-day Business Exposition and annual GuyExpo that was postponed, officials said, so that government of Guyana could throw its full weight behind using GuyExpo 2016 as one of the blue-ribbon events to mark the 50th year of Guyana’s attainment of independence.
Arguably the real significance of the November 27-29 Business Exposition was that it represented the first real test of the organizational skills of the newly created Ministry of Business. In the end, the ministry passed the part of the test that had to do with creating a convivial environment for the vendors to display their goods. There was also more than ample evidence of the sense of order which Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin had wished for. That was partly due to the fact that the traditional deafening music that had become a trademark of GuyExpo had been replaced by the sober offering of steel pan.
It would have required much more, however, to have earned the event the public’s resounding accolade that it sought. People were always likely to make comparisons between the numbers GuyExpo has customarily attracted and those that its temporary replacement could trot out. And the numbers simply weren’t there to allow for a realistic comparison. The crush and confusion that have characterized GuyExpo were absent over last weekend, because the numbers were far fewer.
What GuyExpo has offered over the years is a large, one-off market; the sort of event that small vendors in the art and craft, agro-processing and beauty and fashion sectors wish for. That is why more than 250 vendors turned up at Sophia. However, most of those with
