Long-debated road seen as key to Guyana, Roraima trade push Brazil delegation on visit Stabroek News November 10, 2000 A 12-member delegation from the Brazilian state of Roraima is in Guyana for a two-day visit to explore ways of boosting trade and the proposed road link between the two countries is seen as the pivotal factor. Director of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), David Yankana, said the two-day visit will serve to bring together Guyana's business community and public officials with the Sebrae-RR delegation on achieving this goal. Sebrae-RR is a public/private sector agency which provides support services for small and micro businesses in the state of Roraima. It is comparable to Guyana's Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED). The delegation opened its visit with a session at the Brazilian embassy yesterday where Yankana stressed that safe and easy transportation between the two countries was essential to promote bilateral trade. He urged that the discussions focus a little on the proposed road link. During the visit, the Brazilian delegation will get a first hand look at such a road system, he said. The agenda will also include serious discussions on the trade arrangements Guyana has with CARICOM, Europe and North America and to examine ways Brazil could take advantage of these partnerships. Chairman of the PSC, George Jardim, said the private sector in Guyana was seeking to change the mindset of Guyana focusing more on its traditional trading partners. He felt that Guyana had much to learn from Brazil whose "political arrangements" have served the country well in the good and bad times. "Our knowledge of Brazil and its industries tell us they are world class in many ways," Jardim stated. "So there is much Guyana can learn from this relationship." He said the PSC was impressed that Sebrae-RR has seen it as a wise move that larger businesses should connect to smaller entities--an idea the private sector was trying to promote in Guyana. Head of the Sebrae-RR delegation, Armando Ladiera, said the major focus was the establishment of a road link between Guyana and Brazil. He said commercial trade between the two countries was a tradition which began since in the 1950s and their task now was to promote increased trade. He said the private sector of Roraima was enthusiastic about engaging in business with their counterparts from Guyana but pointed out that the procedures have to be streamlined first. Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry, Geoffrey Da Silva, in brief remarks said the two sides have been talking for a long time about building trade and economic ties and there was a feeling that nothing was being done to fulfill this objective. The government of Guyana has sent an invitation to the Governor of Roraima to visit here and it is hoped that the opportunity would be taken then to speed up the process. Two main challenges were the road link and the establishment of a body to facilitate trade between the two countries, the minister said. He urged that much more lobbying be done of the two governments to hasten the establishment of a Guyana/Brazil border commission. Da Silva said such a commission was important and alluded to the plight of a few Guyanese traders who recently had goods seized in Brazil because of improper documentation. He said this issue has been ongoing for three weeks now and was not resolved. The formation of the commission would deal with such matters expeditiously. Touching on the proposed road link, Da Silva said it is envisaged that this will be completed within the next ten years. The Guyana and Roraima governments have been looking at feasibility studies and several proposals submitted by investors, he said. One such proposal included a railway together with the road. The Roraima government had undertaken to construct a bridge over the Takutu river bordering Guyana and Brazil but this work has not yet commenced. The vision of the Guyana government is that Rupununi will become a major economic centre in the country, the minister said. The Roraima team will be visiting New Amsterdam and Linden where it will have the opportunity to tour sawmill operations, port facilities and the proposed site for a deep water harbour. A government/private sector team had visited Roraima in April this year where discussions centred around trade facilitation; trade and investment opportunities; Customs facilitation; and inter-governmental relations. (Andrew Richards) Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today