For the second time around the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) will be hosting its ‘Marketplace UncappeD’; an event aimed at promoting local products.
The occasion, which has garnered the support of US oil and gas exploration company ExxonMobil, will take the form of a grand exhibition, food festival and family fun day, billed for April 29, 2018 at the Guyana National Stadium.
GMSA’s first Vice President, Ramsay Ali said today at the official media launch that local producers have always been seeking assistance to get market for their products.
“We believe that Agro-processing has a place in Guyana. But right about now, what is being exported is primary products. We should not be only exporting these products, we should add value to these products. That is where the real money is,” he told the gathering at the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC), Robb and Alexander Streets’ office.
Ali recalled the entity’s inaugural event last year at the Sophia Exhibition Centre which saw some 60 exhibitors and more than 5,000 patrons.
“There were some success stories on that weekend. At least seven to eight exhibitors were able to expand their businesses by selling more of their products in the retail stores here in Guyana. And that is exactly what we’re doing with UncappeD.”
Meanwhile, ExxonMobil’s Senior Director, Public and Government Affairs, Kimberly Brasington, said the oil company is pleased to support the “backbone of the country.”
“There is so much more that makes Guyana unique and beautiful and that is the Agro-processing component that is on show here today. When the GMSA came to us and said ‘do you want to be part of this?’ we said yes, we want to be part of the diversification. We want to support the country and the backbone of the country,” Brasington said.
The ‘Marketplace UncappeD’ is a fully private sector-led initiative and will be entirely free to exhibitors as well as the public. The event is expected to be held in other regions of the country later this year.
