A Jamaican trade mission led by Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator Aubyn Hill, is expected to arrive in Guyana this week to follow up on their visit last year and seek out more areas of opportunity and collaboration.
In a missive, the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) announced that the delegation will be in Guyana from January 24 to 27, following up on a previous and highly successful Jamaican trade mission that visited Guyana in October 2022.
During the October trip, a number of Jamaican companies that specialise in various sectors met with Government agencies and potential business partners in Guyana. It was explained that following discussions from the first mission, this mission will focus on construction, technology, tourism, and finance sectors as well as training.
“The delegation will consist of over 45 private sector companies, and 5 Government entities from Jamaica. The Government entities include; the Ministry of Industry, Investment & Commerce (MIIC), Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC), the Human Employment and Resource Training/National Service Training Agency Trust (HEART/NSTA Trust) and the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA),” GMSA explained.
GMSA has been providing support to JAMPRO for this trade delegation. The association explained that it is helping to facilitate business-to-business networking, through the establishment of linkages with companies visiting from Jamaica.
They further explained that they are working along with these stakeholders to ensure that their members can fully participate and be exposed to opportunities. Among the events planned is a Doing Business in Guyana seminar at the Guyana Marriott hotel on Tuesday.
Among those scheduled to participate in the Doing Business in Guyana session are GMSA, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), Guyana Revenue Authority, the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority, Guyana National Bureau of Standards, Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission and the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).
While addressing a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) think tank recently, Senator Hill had explained the purposes of the trade mission to Guyana and his hope that the two countries can build business, commercial, and even political ties.
“Jamaica is very optimistic about this trade mission, and I believe that it will help us to cement those original arrangements we made. I see the relationship that we are seeking to build with Guyana as a vital one [especially] for Jamaican construction companies,” he was quoted by the Jamaica Information Service as saying.
Meanwhile, the acting President of JAMPRO, Shullette Cox, told JIS that Guyana currently has a high demand for construction services and supplies. She said that they will have companies in that sector within the delegation.
“With export being a primary focus for JAMPRO, one of the important inroads that we want to make in Guyana is to expose our exporters, both on the manufacturing and agricultural side, to new buyers and new distributors in the Guyanese market,” she was quoted by JIS as saying.
In 2022, a 38-member business delegation from Jamaica visited Guyana during which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between Edwards and Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Peter Ramsaroop.
