Agro-processing sector outshines others – Business Minister

Guyana is making more progress in the agro-processing sector than it is in the manufacturing, or processing sector, but this does not mean that there is no improvement in any.
This was according to Business Minister Dominic Gaskin, who told Guyana Times that the manufacturing, or processing sector, usually has to do with the availability of raw materials but here in Guyana, agro-processing tends to come “naturally”.
“I think the agro-processing sector has come a little further than the wood processing sector, certainly the jewellery sector, and those other sectors because I think by and large that the investments to start agro-processing are not as heavy upfront as the investments in the equipment that you need for wood processing. But I am seeing in all those sectors, little by little, there is work being done, people are producing more, Guyana today is producing more than it was five years ago. I am seeing it and I think local consumers are seeing more and more locally produced products that make us all proud and we are happy,” the Minister stated.
He pointed out that with regard to timber, the Timber Expo held in 2018 was testimony to the better products that are being offered. According to the Minister, what should be the next step pursued by all entrepreneurs is to ensure that pricing is competitive, as well as processes becoming as efficient as possible to advance the exportation process.
“So that we can be competitive on international markets. Those are the markets that we need to grow our local industries.”
In relation to the cost that is incurred when entrepreneurs are faced with packaging their products to meet certain standards, Minister Gaskin noted that sometimes persons will have to invest more in their packaging than in their product, because that is “the reality of today’s world.”
“A lot of the fancy stuff that we import, it may surprise you to know that the bottle costs the manufacturers more than what is inside of the bottle. It might be an alien concept to us. But we have to be prepared to do whatever we need to do to compete with imported products in the first instance, the products in the export markets as we go,” he added. (Kristen Macklingam)