Less than two weeks before the hosting of Guyana’s premier event – International Building Expo 2023, over 70 per cent of booths have been scooped up by companies eager to showcase their products and services.
This was revealed by Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, who provided an update on the televised Guyana Dialogue programme. She explained that the goal is to make this year’s expo better than last year’s while maintaining the authenticity of the event.
Themed, “Building For All: One Guyana, Many Opportunities,” this year’s Building Expo is being held from August 24-27 at the National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD).
“We have sold so far, about 70 per cent of all the booths as of a few days ago. I believe it is more than that now. Those booths are gone. We have a lot of interest in Building Expo because of the reputation. We’re trying to keep it authentic,” she outlined.
This event encourages companies within the building sector to display their services, thereby providing networking opportunities and fostering collaboration among local and foreign investors.
“We’re trying to attract people in the construction sector so that people who are coming to the expo have an opportunity to see as much as possible, building materials, new building technology, meeting contractors that can help them with home improvement.”
The “Dream Realised” housing programme will form part of the Building Expo this year, where some 2000 house lots will be allocated within the course of two days.
“We will have all of the financial institutions there as well so that people can consult with the banks. Those who received their house lot recently go to the expo and have the opportunity to consult with the banks there and insurance companies and have a one-on-one. A lot of these companies usually have very good deals during the time of the expo that people can take advantage of.”
Guyana held its first Building Expo in August 2010. It was an initiative by President Dr Irfaan Ali, while he was Housing Minister, aimed at creating connections between local businesses and other regional and international companies.
Last year’s expo – the first after some seven years – featured the participation of 356 local, regional, and international companies of which at least 25 were foreign companies, including some from the Caribbean – Suriname, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados along with others from the United States, Canada, and Ghana. During the expo, the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) also executed its allocation of 5000 house lots through its “Dream Realised” programme as well as the distribution of over 500 land titles and transports.
