The sterling work of Guyana's Consul General in Toronto
By Shaun Michael Samaroo
MR DANNY Doobay and Mr Geoff Da Silva have a unique experience in common: they have worked and lived in both Toronto and Georgetown. Both are making distinguished careers for themselves in Government service, serving Guyanese at home and in Canada. As Guyana's Honorary Consul General in Toronto, Doobay is following in the footsteps of Trade and Tourism Minister Da Silva. Da Silva served in Toronto and became a very well liked and respected Government representative in Canada. Doobay took up his post in his hometown Toronto after serving as General Manager of GTV 11, the Government's television station in Georgetown. Now these two men, both experienced in the ways of the Canadian-Guyanese, want to see the Toronto Guyanese community embrace its homeland. In Toronto, Doobay is working overtime to organise a landmark Conference on how Toronto, and overseas Guyanese can play a key role in speeding up Guyana's development drive. From his small, almost cramped office that once housed Da Silva, Doobay is overseeing the tireless work of 40 people on a Committee organising and preparing for President Bharrat Jagdeo's inaugural Toronto trip on May 19 next. Doobay said 28 Guyanese organisations in Toronto have joined hands and are working to see that the Guyana Toronto Independence Festival and the Conference succeed in their goals. The unity and bonding of the various branches of the community is remarkable, Doobay said in an exclusive interview at his Toronto office. They are already forging together in the spirit of the Conference, which has as its theme "The Future is Ours ... Together - the Role of the Overseas Guyanese Communities in Development". Doobay said one of the main goals of the Conference is to promote Tourism to Guyana. Da Silva is the main drive for this initiative. "We're looking to bring together the airline and tour operators, where we can have viable tour packages being offered. The idea is to boost the tourism industry," Doobay said. Top officials in the Tourism industry in Guyana would be attending the Conference which is an all-day affair on May 19. It will be held at the Howard Johnson Hotel in North York, a municipality of Toronto with a sizeable Guyanese population. "I am very excited about the prospects of tourism in Guyana. The Consulate is working with the Cricket Academy in Canada to send a 30-member touring team to Guyana. This is for an under-14 cricket tournament. Events like this, we will be promoting," Doobay noted. Among Tourism officials expected to grace the Conference are Mukesh Dabi of Mainstay Lake Resort, Essequibo and head of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Jerry Gouveia. Guest of Honor is President Bharrat Jagdeo. Da Silva will be a key figure at the Conference, in a city he knows very well. But the Conference will also serve as a feeding ground for ideas on Guyana's overall development, Doobay said. "Guyana needs to look into the development of a knowledge-based economy. Today, Guyana can start to build the foundations of a knowledge-based economy. We have to pay attention to the new economy (sweeping the globe). But we can't just make a big leap and get to the future. We have to get there with deliberate effort. We have the opportunity now to give direction to the private sector, to investors. We have the opportunity now to put in the framework necessary to transcend an agriculture-based economy and become an economy that can easily inter-act with the global village," Doobay said. He said this is the aim of this Conference. "It is to address how the hundreds of thousands of Guyanese who live overseas can play a role in forging these conditions to move Guyana from this primary producer society to a knowledge-based society." The Consul General noted that overseas Guyanese have ready access to capital, skills and the will to transform their homeland from its current poverty to its well-known potential. Doobay touched on the need of the Public Sector to be efficient and fully trained for Guyana to function competitively in the global economy. "We need a well-trained Public Sector if the Public Sector is to provide support to the Private sector so it can in turn invest in that new economy." He noted that the imminent coming into being of the Free Trade of the Americas in 2005 "will create great opportunities for Guyana (Guyana is one of the 50 countries in that NAFTA-like trade zone). We have to prepare for that time now". He said Guyana has to "demonstrate to the international community that we have the human resources pool to help them if they come to Guyana. Cheap labour is no longer an investor pull factor. We need to sell our country on the knowledge of the workforce". Doobay said Government recognises this fact, and it is the reason that Education has the single largest state funding in the 2000 Budget. Education gets a whopping nine billion dollars out of a total budget of $55 billion. "But overseas Guyanese can help in skills needed, accessing capital, and for such things as helping to computerise schools back home," Doobay pointed out. During the Conference, President Jagdeo will listen to experts in various fields. These experts will map out "how overseas Guyanese can play a greater role in Guyana's development". President Jagdeo is scheduled to give the keynote address to open the Conference. A press release from the Consulate said the Conference will "examine how overseas Guyanese could participate and assist in national development with special emphasis on trade, technology transfer, resource mobilisation and general assistance". Four workshops will be held. A Social Development workshop will "explore the best mechanisms for contributing to the social development of Guyana". This workshop will deal with matters of education, environment and health. A Trade, Tourism and Investment workshop "will focus on the role of overseas-based Guyanese in the trade and investment and tourism sectors". The Human Resources Mobilisation workshop "will identify ways of matching the skills and resources of overseas Guyanese with the needs of Guyana. It will also identify ways of encouraging Guyanese to work in Guyana on short and long term bases". Then there's the Technology Transfer/adaptation workshop which will examine how "the development of a technology-based economy can propel Guyana into the 21st century". Toronto is home to numerous Guyanese who have achieved outstanding success in their fields. Doobay said the Conference is the springboard in Government's action plan to embrace this vital development tool for Guyana. Government is committed to making it easy for overseas Guyanese to play that crucial role they can play, and help the nation speed up its development, he said. 
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