Brazil keen on removing barriers to trade with Guyana

Brazilian Ambassador to Guyana Luiz Seixas De Andrade has given his country’s commitment to removing the bottlenecks to bilateral trade between Guyana and its southern neighbour. The ambassador was at the time speaking at a reception to mark the country’s 190th independence anniversary on September 7.

Transportation is one of the likely challenges, and the Brazilian government intends to pursue measures to remove the barriers that impede Guyanese exports. “Technical cooperation has been provided to look at the training of Guyanese technicians, to look at sanitary certification. This will allow the sale of value-added quality Guyanese food and drinks to Brazil,” De Andrade said at the reception at his residence.
Exporters of goods in Lethem had raised some concerns in April when President Donald Ramotar met members of the Lethem Chamber of Commerce, about compliance with obligations under the partial scope agreement Guyana and Brazil share.
The impassable state of the main thoroughfare during the rainy season was another sore issue. With the opening of the bridge across the Takutu River, communication linkages between the two countries have been boosted, resulting in an influx of Brazilian entrepreneurs who have made significant contributions to the country’s productive sector.
Representatives of both countries have been meeting at the level of the bilateral frontier committee to address a number of issues that are of interest to Lethem, Region Nine and its neighbour in Brazil, Bon Fim. Health, education, animal and plant health, water resource management, security, indigenous people, and protection of women were among the priority issues.
The focus on improving the Linden-Lethem road remains a priority for both countries, since the commitment was made by former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva three years ago. In October, a multi-disciplinary mission from the Brazilian Cooperation Agency is scheduled to visit Guyana to explore ways of expanding cooperation.
President Donald Ramotar, who joined in a toast with Ambassador De Andrade to the good neighbourly relations between Guyana and Brazil, was proud of the fact that Guyana is a partner with a country ranked the fifth largest economy in the world. “Attaining such a status, while at the same time moving more than 20 million people out of poverty, is by no means a small feat. We applaud the Brazilian people on these achievements, and wish them continued progress and prosperity,” President Ramotar said.
Brazil has set 2014 as the target for total poverty eradication, and President Ramotar has assured that the Guyana government at the level of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR); the Amazon Caribbean Treaty Organisation (ACTO); and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) among others will be a patron to efforts to promote human development.