GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — A 12-member team from Guadeloupe and Martinique is currently in Guyana on a Trade Mission on invitation by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.

This was disclosed by the Prime Minister on Saturday as he spoke to reporters on the sidelines of an event in which he unveiled the Guyana Chronicle’s Elimination of Violence Against Women banner.

He said he extended the invitation when he visited Guadeloupe in March.

“I did extend an invitation to them to come to Guyana and to explore, trade and tourist and cultural opportunities for us to develop our relations,” said the PM who was performing the duties of acting president.

The Prime Minister further explained that the delegates are presently exploring trade opportunities to replace those disrupted by the recent hurricane. “They are looking for contacts to supply fish, coconut, sugar, rice, fresh vegetables and fruits. They have sent the list of what they require immediately.”

Martinique and Guadeloupe were among the Caribbean countries recently affected by Hurricane Irma and Maria. Trade, through several hurricanes affected countries, has been stalled or rerouted, in some cases resulted in raising prices for shippers and consumers as products take longer to get to their intended destinations.

Nagamootoo also disclosed that the visiting team is looking to develop trade partnerships with local lumber dealers. He noted that this is a good opportunity for local business to establish business ties with the two countries.

Guyana’s Honorary Consul to French Guiana, Travise Tracey-Lecante noted that the trip was very well coordinated with the help of the Guyana Office for Investment, (GO-Invest). “We have visited coconut farms, the Guyana Marketing Cooperation, we also had the pleasure of being welcomed by the Prime Minister himself along with the Ministry of Business,” Tracey-Lacante mentioned.

Head of the Delegation Michel Narananinssamy said “I am very happy to be here and most of what we have seen here is impressive. We really appreciated all the manufacturing products that we saw.” He further added, “We were also happy and impressed with all the various Ministers that were present during the different meetings. There are endless possibilities for us to invest in and will present an Agri Tourism Project to the Government of Guyana”.

Professor, Dr Renuka Naidu-Voisset from the University of the French West Indies disclosed that she is on the trip for cultural reasons. “We are interested in Guyana because we found out that it is not only a country that is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and this is what Martinique and Guadeloupe are and that’s why Guyana is so interesting so that we can create greater links with dancing, music among others”.