Barbados and Guyana explore investment opportunities

Guyana’s Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Monday held a consultation with the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) in Georgetown to strengthen and explore additional investment opportunities between the countries.

The engagement at the Regus Centre, in the capital, saw intensive discussions on possible commodities and sectors that could either develop or expand their industries.

Chairman of the PSC, Paul Cheong, said local and international investors are essential as Guyana’s economy is set to expand.

“We need to approach this not only as business, but as friends, and look for the long-term benefits. We are starting this now but in five, ten, 15 years from now, the whole landscape would be changing and now is the right time to get in and get involved,” he said.

Both countries have shown interest in the areas of manufacturing, agriculture, trading, shipping, logistics, lumber, engineering, and infrastructural development, among others.

Executive Director of the BCCI, Misha Lobban-Clarke said she anticipates fruitful outcomes from the engagement.

“We are pretty excited. Guyana has a rich history of trade relations with the rest of the region… and no doubt we have to be looking at cementing and increasing our trade partnership,” she said.

Lobban-Clarke said the 195-year-old BCCI stands ready to consult and lend support in various business aspects.

“We are the business support organisation, almost the engine support in terms of facilitating trade and trade relations with our partners, and so indeed we are here to lend support,” she added.

The bilateral discussion between Guyana’s President Dr Mohammed Irfaan Ali and Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley has prompted investment relations and development between the two countries.

Last year, a high-level housing and investment mission headed by then Minister of Transport, Works and Maintenance Dr William Duguid visited Guyana seeking investment opportunities and strengthened trade relations between the two CARICOM nations. (BT/CMC)