Over 60% of Guyanese businesses in diaspora set to attend 2nd Business & Investment Conference

– US actor Malik Yoba to address gathering

The second annual Business and Investment Conference is set to begin today at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown with the objective of providing insights into doing business in Guyana. At the same time, opportunities to unite the diaspora would be embraced.
Speaking about opportunities this conference would present, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Libra Management Group, Stacey Mollison, reiterated that the four-day event has been created to ease the way of doing business in Guyana.
“This is the main reason the conference started; because I felt like there was a gap in the ease of doing business here, and it’s really difficult to manoeuvre and get the right things,” she disclosed.
Although this has been the initial intention of the conference, she highlighted, the ease of doing business has improved over the years, but there is a lack of cultural awareness, which is necessary in Guyana.
“I think things have improved over the years, but I think there has to be cultural awareness. That’s why we start with the awareness and education piece with people. So, we start prepping them before they come that, okay, you’re going into a different environment,” she explained.

According to Mollison, there will be three areas of focus during the event, by which patrons would be provided with everything they need for the conference.
“So, the conference will focus on three phases. Phase one is the awareness and education, where we host a lot of webinars, in-person meeting groups, and info sessions about why Guyana and why Guyana now,” she told media operatives.
Phase two will be centred around immersion, she said, and the focus would be concentrated on her slogan, “small group, big impact”, which is a strategy designed to maximize opportunities and drive lasting success.
“People really needed to come to see, and I wanted to do it where I consider it to be what I call small group impact. (I did) not (want it to be) a conference of like 500 people, because I wanted to put forward a different idea about how we conference to get the resources that we need,” she detailed.
On the third day, attendees would embark on an all-day bus tour, exploring Guyana’s business and real estate sectors in an attempt at offering them a direct view of local opportunities.
“So, what’s incorporated into our conference in the immersion piece is we actually have an on-the-ground bus tour, where we spend the entire third day of the conference. Day one and day two are about education and interaction with local stakeholders, and then we go on a bus tour. We go all around Guyana,” she explained.
Approximately 60 per cent of business owners from the Guyanese diaspora would be at this event, she divulged.
“I would say 60% is Guyanese diaspora, and then the other attendees are from different Caribbean communities and Americans as well. Everybody that’s coming is a business owner; we only target business owners. So, we target people who are not only interested in moving, but are also business owners,” she divulged.
This event would conclude with a philanthropic initiative in Tiger Bay in Georgetown. That initiative, which would be supported by the Ministry of Health and the Guyana Police Force, would involve distributing 100 food hampers, clothing and shoes, along with providing medical outreach services to local residents.
The conference is aimed at fostering and strengthening business partnerships, enhancing cultural connections, and elevating awareness of Guyana’s investment landscape.
Throughout the four-day event, participants would listen to keynote speeches, and be engaged in panel discussions, workshops and networking opportunities. Notable speakers include Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Komal Singh; Head of the Diaspora Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rosalinda Rasul; President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association, Dee George; Local Content Analyst Shonta Noel, and US actor and entrepreneur Dr. Malik Yoba of YOBA Development, among others.