Invest in Guyana’s construction, pharmaceutical & agri industries – Pres Ali to Canadian businesses

…asks Tim Hortons to extend franchise into South America
…as 2 new airlines apply to fly Guyana-Canada route

With Guyana on the cusp of massive socio-economic transformation, Canadian businesses are being encouraged to explore the vast amount of investment opportunities on local shores, which President Dr Irfaan Ali has assured will bring tremendous benefits to any investor.
“We’d…like to encourage more Canadian companies to explore investment opportunities, not only in the mining sector but in areas such construction industry, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy and agriculture. These are all areas that we are aware Canada has great private sector operatives who can benefit from the transformation and development that Guyana is going through and who can bring their technology and their skillset to help us as we move forward,” the Head of State urged a room full of stakeholders during a Canada Day reception on Thursday.
President Ali also urged the local and regional private sector to take advantage of opportunities that exist in Canada, referencing the Caribbean-Canada Trade Agreement, known as CARIBCAN, which, among other things, allows for the preferential trade of products from the Caribbean into Canada.
Canada has obtained approval from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to extend the agreement until December 2033.
“I want to take this opportunity to urge my own Foreign Ministry to do more work on educating and informing the private sector of these agreements…because these agreements bring tremendous potential and opportunity for our local private sector to benefit in the Canadian market.”

Tim Hortons
Meanwhile, President Ali also called on Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana Mark Berman for assistance in getting the popular coffeehouse franchise, Tim Hortons to come to South America.
“I believe that the Canadian High Commissioner has to do some more work to ensure the franchise holder extend their franchise into South America…I’ve inquired about this franchise’s presence in Guyana and I was told that there are at least three applications for the franchise to come to Guyana but the franchise has not made a corporate decision as yet as to whether they’re extending into South America,” he explained.
Tim Hortons is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain, with 5352 restaurants in 15 countries, as of June 30, 2022.
Already, popular US coffeehouse Starbucks has established its presence in Guyana, opening its first store in April and it is already working on expanding to other locations across the country.

Airlines
On the matter of better connectivity between the two countries, President Ali noted that works are continuing but there are some challenges.
He disclosed that the Canadian High Commissioner and his team are working “overtime” to ensure more direct flights between Guyana and Canada.
But he noted that “many of the major airlines today are short on assets.”
“…the production line is not nowhere near what the demand is and the industry today, and if that is not enough, for the first time in a very long time, the industry is facing a human resource challenge in the shortage of pilots,” Ali explained.
According to Transport Canada, in a typical pre-pandemic year, roughly 1100 pilot licences were issued. When complemented by foreign-trained pilots, that was generally more than enough to satisfy the needs of carriers as large as WestJet and Air Canada, all the way down to regional, charter and cargo airlines.
But as demand for flying collapsed in 2020, so did the number of new pilots getting their paperwork. Government data shows less than 500 licences were awarded in 2020, a figure that fell to less than 300 in 2021 and just 238 last year.
In fact, a 2018 report by the Canadian Council for Aviation and Aerospace said that a third of flight operators in this country at that time cited pilots as their biggest skills shortage. The report said the need for experienced pilots is beginning to outpace the available national supply, and projected the industry will need an additional 7300 pilots by 2025.
Nevertheless, President Ali said in the last seven months, Guyana has received two proposals for additional flights, though not direct, between Guyana and Canada.
“…and those proposals are being actively finalised now,” he said.
Dominican Republic-based airline SkyCana this year introduced flights from Guyana to Canada, via the Dominican Republic. (G11)