British firms hunting more investment opportunities in Guyana as trade with UK soars to £1.6 billion

Nov 29, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – With trade between Guyana and the United Kingdom (UK) reaching an all-time high of £1.6 billion, a trade mission consisting of seven British firms is here to scope out more opportunities for investments.

During a press conference at the Marriott Hotel on Tuesday morning, British High Commissioner, H.E. Jane Miller, explained that the Trade Mission was coordinated in partnership with the Caribbean Council, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce, and the British Chamber of Commerce.

It was subsequently explained by Managing Director of Caribbean Council, Chris Bennett that the mission comprised of Sangfroid Group, Price Forbes, Enviro Technology Services Ltd (Part of the Cura Terrae group), Innovo Group, Dints International, Invest Northern Ireland and Contracta Construction UK Ltd. Eleven UK delegates are also part of the delegation. They were drawn from the mining, insurance, construction, defense, security, and environmental sectors. Over the next few days, the delegates will engage with government, private sector, and other stakeholders.

President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kester Hutson; Managing Director of the Caribbean Council, Chris Bennett; Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh; British High Commissioner, Jane Miller; Regional Director for the Commonwealth Caribbean at Department for Business and Trade D’ Jamila Ward; Country Director for Trade and Investment at the Department for Business and Trade, Sherwyn Naughton and Deputy High Commissioner to Guyana and non-resident Deputy Ambassador to the Republic of Suriname, Judy Omasan.

Bennett also told media operatives that this marks the third trade mission brought to Guyana since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. “We’ve been very focused on supporting UK trade and investment links with Guyana since well, since 2000, when we were founded, but particularly in the last two years since the pandemic. I’ve been delighted to work with the British High Commission here and the Government of Guyana to really drive trade and investment links,” Bennett said.

Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh in his remarks also underscored his government’s open-door policy for such missions which he said are critical to ensuring knowledge sharing, job creation and even technology transfer. “This level of interest by international companies in Guyana is not new or not surprising. It reflects the recognition across the world and across companies worldwide of the opportunities that exist in Guyana’s rapidly growing economy,” the minister said.

He also noted that previous missions of similar ilk have recorded an extremely strong success rate. “High Commissioner confirmed this morning that 50% of the companies that came in the previous British trade missions have already contributed at least one transaction in Guyana…that’s a phenomenal success rate,” the minister said.

Head of the British Chamber of Commerce in Guyana, Faizal Khan was also keen to highlight the growing importance of the Guyana-UK trade relations. For last year, he noted that trade between the two nations amounted to £$1.6 billion. “This is no small feat. And I believe that puts the UK as the leading trade partner in the Caribbean,” Khan said.

This newspaper understands that the trade mission is expected to wrap up talks on December 1.

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British High Commissioner, Chris Bennett, H.E. Jane Miller, Managing Director of Caribbean Council, Sangfroid Group

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