The Guatemalan Chamber of Industry and commerce wants local businessmen to cash in on the tremendous trading opportunities that abound at this year's Fourth Biennial Business Expo to be held in June, says its president Juan Antonio Busto. He told Sunday Guardian that as Caribbean and Latin American countries battle to recover from the effects of the global financial crisis, the business possibilities at the event were sure to bolster new prospects for commerce. Since inception, he said, the expo had grown with traders from close to 25 countries in Central America, Taiwan and Columbia.
Citing that close to TT$300 million in business was transacted the last time the event was held, and with news that the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Central America and the Dominican Republic had moved to endorse the venture, Busto called on T&T entrepreneurs to begin reaping the benefits of this trade show now. "US$95 million in trade was conducted at the third instalment of the Expo in 2009.
"I hope T&T and Caricom would come and be a part of it. If we had 200 booths last time, I expect 250 this year. I expect many more millions of dollars of business. If Caricom and T&T can come it's going to be great," said Busto. He added: "The most important thing is that we are able to work with the participants of the fair, before. "We do match making. It is really important. I was the matchmaker with a guitar manufacturer in the US and Weaver, a very small town in Guatemala."
Busto made it clear that he was not a politician and had no interest in signing treaties. "Businessmen have a very good smell of business and they will find opportunities anywhere in the world, whether there is a treaty or not, it doesn't matter. If your product is good, if your price is good, you'll find a way to sell that product," said Busto. Busto had led a delegation to T&T in the last quarter of 2010 at a two-day business meeting hosted by the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Association of Caribbean States. He said liked the business climate promoted by the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led People's Partnership Government and declared that no time should be wasted in finding new opportunities.
Contacted, Trade and Industry Minister Stephen Cadiz said Central American markets, for whatever reason, never looked attractive to T&T. "Now that their economies are good it's a natural fit. A lot of these countries border the Caribbean and the Caribbean sea. "Where it is that we traditionally traded with England and the United States and Canada, now we are seeing a whole different trading arrangement.
"The Central American region is a very good market. They have the population; they have the economy. The economies are healthy in a number of the territories and therefore it's one of the areas that we need to concentrate on." Beyond trade, Busto was seeking T&T's technical assistance in energy and energy-related matters.