Trade Mission To Guyana A Great Success

December 2, 2016-Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited: “I think it is a very good idea because I think it gives people the opportunity to see what is possible in Guyana. We go back with much more information than we came with and in our opinion that is the most important one, because (as a business) if you want to come here, you need to know something and that was the goal we had and that goal was achieved.” - Anthousa Lim A Po of Alupro-a Kiesel Company, Suriname.

Lim A Po was one of the 14 exhibitors and over 200 delegates who took part in a two-day trade mission to Guyana from November 28-29, 2016. Themed, “Building Strong & Sustainable Business Relationships Across Borders”, the Trade Mission, organised by the Republic Group, was centered in Georgetown at the Marriott Hotel and focused primarily on synchronizing cross-border relationships among Guyana, Suriname, Barbados and Trinidad.

Republic Bank Guyana’s Managing Director Richard Sammy and Executive Director of Republic Bank, Roopnarine Oumade Singh, addressed a full house of delegates, both expressing thanks to them for their interest and attendance, while stating the Bank’s focus and expectations of the Trade Mission.

Richard Sammy said, “As I look around this room, I wish to express a heartfelt ‘Thank you’ to each of you for joining us today, many of you having crossed borders to be here. Your presence is truly a heartening indication of your confidence in the Republic Bank Group and your keenness to explore Guyana’s rich possibilities…As I reflect on our gathering today and our purpose, I am reminded of the Words of outgoing United States President Barack Obama when he met with the CARICOM leaders in Jamaica in 2015. He observed that, ‘The Caribbean is a place of extraordinary beauty, people of enormous spirit, unique talents and a wonderful culture.’ It is this spirit of Regional togetherness that brings us together even now, combining our unique talents for mutual benefit.”

Oumade Singh followed up with more on the Bank’s focus, “Our vision at Republic Bank is to build successful societies. One of the means of accomplishing this is to leverage our significant customer base across the region, and put customers in touch with each other, to form stable relationships within the commercial and corporate sectors. Our goal is to provide a seamless experience throughout the jurisdictions in which we operate. We assist and support our customers, doing business in their home territories, transacting across borders, and leveraging our far-reaching expertise to bring about results.” he said.

Republic Bank Guyana’s Marketing and Communications Manager, Michelle Johnson, led the guests through the two days. They interacted with many speakers, including Guyana’s Minister of Business, the Honourable Dominic Gaskin, who compared the need for partnership between private and public sectors and banks to marriage vows, stating that in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, they must stick together in long-term partnership.

Sharing deep perspectives on doing business in Suriname were the Managing Director of the Bank’s Suriname subsidiary, Gloria Anthony and Managing Director/Owner of FiscLe Consultancy N.V. Anouschka Nabibaks. Anthony’s firsthand remarks drew quite a bit of interest amongst the delegates who, during networking sessions, sought her advice on numerous related topics. Nabibaks gave strong and necessary legal advice to those interested in entering the Suriname market.

Taking a Guyanese market focus were Vishnu Doerga, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce; Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran, Partner at Cameron and Shepherd Attorneys; and Rakesh Latchana, Partner at Ram and Mc Rae Chartered Accountants, all of whom gave eye-opening, honest and current information to the delegates on doing business in Guyana from general, legal and accounting perspectives. Patrick Healy, CEO of VSH United, also gave the delegates some food for thought, presenting a strong case for a synchronised customs environment and initiating the discussion on the Guyana/Suriname common market.

Spurred on by both the days’ presentations and Guyana’s budget announcements, delegates posed many questions, particularly during the panel discussions, which were led by Ernst and Young’s Gregory Hannays (Day One) and Maria Daniel (Day Two). The panelists included, Richard Sammy, Bryan Renten (Director/CEO, Fernandes Bottling Company N.V. & Chairman, Association of Business in Suriname), Owen Verwey (Chief Executive Officer, Guyana Office for Investment), Stephen Grell (Manager, Corporate and Investment Banking, Republic Bank Limited), Jeff Simons (Country Manager, Guyana, Esso Exploration & Production Guyana Limited), Nigel Hughes (Partner, Hughes, Fields & Stoby, Attorneys-at-Law and Director, GOGA), Shaun Rampersad (COO, Ramps Logistics, Trinidad), Derek Chin (CEO, Movietowne Trinidad) whose Guyanese branch of Movietowne is expected to soon achieve completion and Joseph Cox (Assistant Secretary General, Trade and Economic Integration, CARICOM Secretariat).

Cox’s feature address on doing business in CARICOM followed an enlightening presentation by Guyana’s Minister of Public Infrastructure, the Honourable David Patterson, while delegates gained succinct and worthwhile advice on the role of finance in cross-border transactions, from another of Republic Bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking Managers, Ray Klein.

As Karen Yip Chuck, General Manager of Corporate and Investment Banking at the Bank, closed the two-day conference, , she reiterated the Bank’s purpose for hosting the event. “Our primary objective of this trade mission was to bring different business communities closer together, provide insight on the differing nuances, and most of all, facilitate stronger networking ties with the intention of increasing trade amongst our customers, starting with those represented here today…Though some may consider this event a success, solely based on the high-level interest and participation from our clients across the Region, We have measured the success of this event by the number of new cross-border relationships that we were able to facilitate over the course of the two days. I think, based on the number of one-on-one meetings that I have observed, it is safe to say that this inaugural Trade Mission was a success.” She added that the Bank’s intention is to host more of these trade missions in other territories in the Republic Bank footprint jurisdictions in the near future.