Understandably, we have no clear idea of the numbers that will arrive here over the next week to be part of the country’s 50th Independence Anniversary celebrations, though from all that we have been hearing Guyanese from the diaspora, some of whom may well not have set foot on their native soil in decades, will be ‘touching down’ here to participate in the historic celebrations.
In many instances they will be returning to test the tall tales and rumours that they have been hearing for many years, stories that range from a proliferation of choke-and-rob to tales of inefficiency in public services, garbage-strewn byways and pot-holed streets.
Some again (who knows?) may be using the opportunity to make a visible assessment of the long-held notion of remigration or, in other instances, investment in one venture or another. Whatever the reason, this season offers, perhaps, an unprecedented opportunity in many of our lifetimes for Guyana to shine, to demonstrate to Guyanese in the diaspora that their country is still worth making a fuss over and that the prospects for re-migrants and investors are good. This would be the time, for example, to market the services being offered by the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), to make available a surfeit of information about lands and homes for sale, to promote the beauty of our tourist resorts and to show off the country’s restaurants and nightclubs.
In the longer term there are the prospects associated with the likelihood that visits to Guyana for the Jubilee period could set in train a pattern of subsequent visits that could create a significant increase in visitor arrivals in the future. If that were to happen, however, the 50th anniversary period will have to be used as a springboard from which to launch an aggressive marketing initiative that presents the country as the place to be.
This newspaper is aware of some overseas-based Guyanese already here for the Jubilee festivities who have indicated that they are open to modest investments in the agro-processing sector that might allow them to export small amounts of product for resale to outlets in their various communities. Arguably, this cumulative growth in our overseas market for agro-produce can create further opportunities for local farmers and processors. Much the same might happen in the art and craft, jewellery and clothing sectors.
This newspaper understands that last week’s GuyExpo saw visits to Guyana by 27 Florida-based businessmen under the auspices of GO-Invest to engage local producers on the prospects for exporting locally produced goods. One expects that at some stage GO-Invest will report on the outcomes of those encounters.
Seeking to take economic advantage of the high profile that Guyana will enjoy in the period ahead is a joint public/private sector responsibility. The private sector, one expects, will be doing everything possible to sell such goods and services as there are to offer and even to explore the possibility of establishing new, longer-term ties with overseas-based businesses. This is a time, too, for new initiatives, for excursions into new product and service ideas that will help to sell Guyana abroad.
The state agencies like the Ministry of Business, GO-Invest, the Guyana Revenue Authority, Lands and Surveys and the Food & Drugs Analyst Department, among others must be on top of their game, ever ready to give service. Fiftieth anniversaries only happen once and, truth be told, there would be no good excuse for not doing everything in our power to take the fullest advantage of the occasion.
