President of Guyana, Dr Irfaan Ali has committed to resolving issues affecting export of Guyanese products to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Unites States of America. He made this pledge during the Private Sector Commission (PSC)’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held virtually yesterday, which was joined by several members of the diplomatic community and senior private sector officials, among others.
He noted that the government needs the private sector to come aboard in order for these issues to be resolved.
“…We have some issues with export of our fish to the U.S. We have to work with our U.S. partner and the private sector in resolving this. We have to identify the issues and resolve the issues so that we can get back those markets. We have to work with the local private sector here, and I expect the private sector to play a leading role in ironing out a lot of the problems in CARICOM,” he said.
Back in 2018, the U.S. imposed a ban on all Siluriformes fish and fish products (catfish species) from Guyana. The U.S decision meant that apart from the catfish, hassar, cuirass and gilbacker, no other fish can be exported to the U.S.
Meanwhile, Dr Ali said that the “entire Private Sector of Trinidad” operating in Guyana, and “we are not making use of that presence”.
“Our private sector needs to let the private sector of Trinidad understand also, that we’ve had difficulties over a number of years, especially for our agricultural products, and they need to be the champion for change in the Trinidad market for us – breaking down the bureaucracy,” he said.
Dr Ali said that the government will soon reveal what is the development trajectory of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government for the next year. This, he said, will aid the private sector in its strategic planning.
