Berbice Expo and Trade Fair reach out to city businesses

May 09, 2013 News

The call for more support from the business community in Georgetown was made during the launch of the Ninth Annual Berbice Expo and Trade Fair, yesterday, at the Albion Estate Senior Staff Club on the Corentyne.
The event, which carries a $10 M budget, will be held—barring unprecedented rainy weather—over four days from July 26 under the theme ‘Raising Our Standards, Enhancing our Competiveness’. The event is planned and executed by the Central Corentyne Chambers of Commerce (CCCC).
Region Six Chairman, David Armogan, stated that the event, which is Berbice’s largest calendar event, serves as a very important avenue where people come together with families for entertainment.
Not only is the event about the exposition of goods and services, it also provides clean fun for the entire family, he said.
He made the call for more small businesses being involved in the event. “I would like to see more manufacturing products being marketed”. Over the years, he stated, there has been a decline of Georgetown businesses “and I think that this is something the Chamber and Tourism Authority…should look at to bring back”, so that people can get exposure to a variety of goods and services.
He urged the planners to enlist their Surinamese counterparts to become more involved in the Trade Fair “because we are trying to promote cross- border trade”.
Tejpaul Adjodhea, the Coordinator of the Berbice Expo, outlined the specific details relating to the planning for the upcoming event. He saw the need for a larger pavilion to house more than 250 booths, more entry and exit areas, better parking facilities, better security, more Surinamese involvement, as well as rules that patrons must observe once they enter the Albion Sports Complex, including no glass bottles and no vehicles.
He said that the planners have tried their utmost to get more international exhibitors. “We wrote to both the Venezuelan and Brazilian Ambassadors and even offered them free traveling. We had little success from the Brazilian Embassy who sent a troupe to perform at the opening ceremony but that was as far as it gets, so we need more international exhibitors.”
Adjodhea said that during the four nights, there will be ‘live bands each night, including Shakti Strings and Dax New Generation Band. More top bands will be sourced this year. Stand- up comedy will also be a feature. And there will be fireworks every night, provided that there is permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
President of the CCCC, Leekha Rambrich, said that since its launch, attendance to the expo has doubled from just over 15,000 during the first Berbice Expo to over 30,000 last year. “The event has seen a remarkable improvement year after year.” However, he criticized the “limited” support from the businesses in Georgetown.
The event was pushed back from its original launch date in July to August in 2012, because of the rainy weather and muddy state of the Albion Sports Complex. Rambrich hinted that should this happen again this year, the CCCC will be forced once more to host the event in August. “I am sure the Minister [of Tourism] will try to encourage some of the big businesses from Georgetown to be here.”
Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh, during the feature address, praised Berbice’s tourism potential through the Number 63 Beach; Corentyne River; Berbice River Bridge; Bird- watching; numerous waterfalls along the Corentyne River, cricket legends and heroes, fishing opportunities, “and Guyana’s cleanest market, the New Amsterdam Market”.
“We should aim to provide excellence and world-class products and services,” he stated. He also stressed the need for more overseas buyers at the event and urged entrepreneurs and businesses to sign up early and support the Berbice Expo.

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Berbice Expo and Trade Fair reach out to city businesses

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