ORGANISERS of Expo Jamaica, a trade and investment show put on locally to raise the level of exposure and value of exports of locally made products is calling on local buyers to rethink how they approach doing business with the exhibitors at the show.

At the Observer’s Monday Exchange, Berletta Forrester, manager, Export Promotion, Jampro/JTI, Jamaica’s trade and investment promotion agency, said local buyers should register and take part in the co-ordinated buyer hosting programme which is a part of the expo and not wait until the general viewing days to seek out opportunities with the exhibitors.

“We want to say to those persons who are buyers that you should register and come out on the buyer days,” Forrester said.

She said this will not only allow local exhibitors to tap into the viable local market, but enable potential local buyers to benefit from the co-ordinated programme that is set up to facilitate the international buyers. Local buyers who register before the expo gets underway June 17 at the National Arena in Kingston will be part of a programme that entails business matching, structured tours to some of the manufacturing facilities and other activities to maximise the level of interaction between buyers and suppliers.

“There is a significant local market that we still think our local producers can tap into and there are many linkage opportunities,” Forrester said. “We are looking at over 200 producers of great Jamaican goods and services in one place”.

Expo Jamaica is staged in collaboration with the Jamaica Manufacturer’s Association (JMA), the Jamaica Exporters Association (JEA) and Jamaica’s trade and promotions agency Jampro/JTI.

Sancia Bennett-Templer, president, Jampro/JTI, outlined the schedule of the expo, which has 200 confirmed exhibitors and over 40 buyers already registered from a targeted 270. The expo is divided into buyer and consumer days, with the buyers taking precedence on the first two days, June 17 and 18 and the consumers thereafter to June 20.

“It’s an opportunity to come and touch, feel and interact with all the major producers here,” Aswad Morgan, VP of the JEA, said. “We put a huge focus on the buyers”.

Bennett-Templer said a critical part of the initiative to get local buyers out to the event is to increase investments within the local sector, especially for many businesses that are not able or willing to take on the additional cost of marketing overseas. It is a point supported by Omar Azan, president of the JMA, who argued that exhibitors can also benefit from the increased savings from dealing with local buyers.

“We have to underscore our local market because we have a great local market here. With a great local market what it would also mean is foreign exchange savings for those companies like the hotel chains importing tomato ketchup and bottled water,” Azan said. The call is also being made to local purchasing managers and procurement officers in local institutions, education facilities, hospitals, penal institutions, restaurants and government agencies to take advantage of the opportunities within the local sector.

Forrester said the team is moving to change the image of the expo from a large consumer event to a ‘true’ trade show. She said in former years many people came to the expo to view the wonderful things that are made in Jamaica but to no viable end. She said part of the reason for this was that many potential local buyers did not consider themselves to be buyers. These persons would turn out at the trade show on the last two consumer days where they have a great time looking at the products, enjoying the entertainment, and collecting samples.

“They are excited that we make all these wonderful things here, however that did not necessarily convert to significant trade and it certainly did not convert to exports,” Forrester said.

She added that the registration of local businesses is also important for the follow up process, which is where the contacts are converted into sales. “The real work begins after expo because we do need to see that the interactions and the contacts made at Expo are converted into business”.

Buyers can register at www.expojamaica.com.jm.