The European Union (EU) on Friday, February 17, hosted its second information meeting related to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with private sector stakeholders.
Ambassador Robert Kopecky (in the dark blue jacket) with members of the private sector
The meeting was aimed at sharing with participants the core values of the EPA and the numerous possibilities that are available for local businesses to boost trade relations with the EU, while ensuring that Guyana’s business sector maximises the benefits of the agreement.
“It also helped to make the private sector aware of the large range of measures and programmes financed by the EU to support the implementation of the EPA, and improve possibilities for trade and investment, both within the Caribbean and in relation to the EU,” a release from the EU said.
Approximately two-thirds of the current €165 million regional programme between the EU and CARIFORUM is targeted either directly or indirectly at such support, and this is accompanied by a series of additional thematic or ACP-wide programmes.
EU Ambassador Robert Kopecky encouraged the Guyanese business community to be proactive and make maximum use of the trade opportunities under the EPA and of the various EU trade related support programmes. “All these efforts have been undertaken with the common objective to boost Guyanese – European trade relations in the current difficult context of the world financial crisis,” he related.
The last available statistics indicate that in 2010, Guyana exported to the EU goods worth euros 170 million, whilst its imports from the EU amounted to euros 89 million, thus creating a positive trade balance in Guyana’s favour of 81 million euros.
With these results, the EU continues to be the third most important trade partner of Guyana after Canada and the USA. Main items of Guyanese exports to the EU are sugar and its derivatives, rice, bauxite, rum, processed timber, diamonds and seafoods, whilst Guyana imports from the EU all machinery and mechanical appliances, dairy and some other agricultural products and medicines.
The Private Sector Commission (PSC) has under its ambit some 21 business associations that make up the private sector in Guyana, including the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA), the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), the Guyana Office of Investment (GO-INVEST), the Tourism and Hospitality Association (THAG), the Small Business Association, the Forest Producers Association (FPA) and the Tourism Association of Guyana (GTA). The meeting was chaired by Kopecký and was also attended by Allison Francis, an official from the CARIFORUM – EPA Implementation Unit.
