USAID/Guyana Trade and Investment Support marketing Guyana 's products

Kaieteur News News article, 28 October 2007

USAID/Guyana Trade and Investment Support marketing Guyana 's products
As Guyana continues to carve a niche on the international market, the Guyana
Trade and Investment Support (GTIS) Project, funded by the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID), is making significant progress
in putting and maintaining the country's products on the world market.
GTIS has been established to help identify new markets for, and increase
exports of, Guyanese products across four sectors, namely agriculture,
aquaculture, forestry and tourism.
Sara Engleka, Marketing Director of GTIS, says that the project follows a
market-led strategy, identifying global market demands and then seeking to
fulfill them according to the resources available in Guyana .
She added that efforts in the non-traditional agriculture, aquaculture and
forestry sectors are part of the broader diversification initiative
spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Agriculture
As it relates to the agricultural aspect of the activities of GTIS, Engleka
noted that the main focus in that sector is on non-traditional products.
She said that through attendance at international trade shows dedicated to
the fresh produce industry, representatives from GTIS as well as the New
Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) have established relationships with
importers in the US , Canada , Europe and the Caribbean .
To date, two GTIS pilot projects have focused on hot peppers and butternut
squash, and the organisation continues to explore opportunities to export
additional products based on market demand.
Next week, a host of Guyana's agricultural products, including butternut
squash, hot peppers, limes, oranges, and eddoes, will feature at a Guyana
Booth at the upcoming IFE Americas -10th Americas Food and Beverage Show in
Miami, Florida.
Other organisations providing support for this initiative include the
National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), Partners of the Americas ,
and the Poor Rural Communities Support Services Project (PRCSSP).
Aquaculture
GTIS, in collaboration with the National Aquaculture Association of Guyana
(NAAG), has identified overseas markets for fresh tilapia filets and is
working with local business persons to increase supplies to meet export
volumes.
So far, approximately 1,000 pounds of high-quality tilapia have been
exported to the United States . Next month, NAAG will host Tilapia
Aquaculture Night, creating an opportunity for individuals from the private
sector, government and donor organisations to discuss the future of
aquaculture in Guyana .
NAAG has also received support from the British High Commission and the UK
Department for International Development (DFID).
Forestry
The Forest Products Marketing Council (FPMC) -a private sector organisation
working in collaboration with GTIS - is seeking to promote the export of
value-added forestry products such as processed timber for decking,
construction, etcetera.
Through their attendance at several international trade shows, Engleka noted
that the group has been able to attract international investment to Guyana
's forestry sector.
She said that the FPMC estimates total new investments, since the
collaboration with GTIS, to be between $25 million and $30 million from the
ten companies that invested the most since 2006.
This and other factors have led to an estimated $70 million in forest
product exports for the year so far.
These deals involved products that capture higher prices, utilise more wood
from each log, and exploit a greater number of "lesser known" species, many
of which have never before been exported from Guyana.
GTIS and the FPMC are also collaborating to establish a national policy of
legal verification of forest products, and representatives from the two
groups are working with ProForest, a third-party auditing organisation, to
develop a Legal Verification System compatible with internationally
recognised standards and practices.
Steps in this process include working with the government to establish
appropriate policies, field-testing, training local auditors, working with
firms to become legally verified, and implementing a chain of custody.
Tourism
The Guyana Birding Tourism Programme is a joint initiative between GTIS and
the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA). Over the past year, Guyana has hosted
more than a dozen international tour operators on "familiarisation" tours to
acquaint them with the country's extravagant wildlife. As a result of these
FAM trips, select tour operators will be bringing a total of seven guided
bird watching tours to Guyana in 2008.
Two additional familiarisation trips are planned for November and April
2008.
Shortage of licences
After experiencing a shortage of provisional and drivers' licences, the
Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) says that it is making manageable progress in
acquiring both documents.
Deputy Chief Licence Officer Wannette Parris said that the shortage has been
an issue for some time now, and the office had managed to procure a
manageable quantity of provisional licences by noon yesterday, but is still
awaiting a new supply of drivers' licences.
Fortunately, there has not yet been any uproar among consumers regarding the
situation. Nevertheless, authorities say they are working expeditiously to
have the issue rectified.
At present, persons applying for driver's licences are simply provided with
receipts and asked to revisit the office at a later date to acquire the
necessary documents.
Before the acquisition of the provisional licence documents yesterday, the
authority was simply not providing persons in search of the short-term
documents.