Consequent on the trade mission from Jamaica to Guyana last week, chairman of the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) Mark Hart has said that given the investment opportunities in Guyana, it would be prudent to establish a direct airline service between Jamaica and Guyana.

Hart was a part of a 70-member delegation led by Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Senator Aubyn Hill who visited Guyana from January 23 to 28 with the aim of exploring business opportunities including trade with Jamaican companies. Some 40 private sector companies along with Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro), Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation, and business lobby group Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association were represented.

Speaking to Jamaica Observer on Thursday, Hart, who is also chairman of Cargo Handlers Limited and CEO of Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited, noted that there are “tremendous opportunities” in Guyana due to the South American country’s new boon from oil exploration.

“We have a business development team at Airports Authority headed by Richard Gibbs and we’re interested in developing a route between Jamaica and Guyana,” he revealed.

“We’d be looking to target interCaribbean [Airways] and/or Caribbean Airlines to provide this service,” he continued, adding that the AAJ in its bid to secure a route between the two countries would provide concessionary support and marketing support to the carriers.

While Hart believes that a route would serve business interests in the initial phase, he added that the flights could also redound to the benefit of Jamaica’s tourism sector attracting visitors from Guyana.

During the mission Hart and other participants met with vice-president of Guyana Bharrat Jagdeo, senior minister in the Office of the President with responsibility to finance Dr Ashni Singh, and Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill, and Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton. Chief executive officer of the Guyana Office for Investment Dr Peter Ramsaroop was the chaperone for the Jamaican team.

Once considered an underdeveloped country, Guyana is now in the process of undertaking several infrastructure projects to support the country’s economic growth as an oil-producing country. The International Monetary Fund has projected that Guyana will grow by 30 per cent on average from 2023 to 2026.

Hart noted that with the significant improvement in the country’s budgetary allocation, the Government of Guyana has plans to construct 43 bridges, a highway from the Cheddi Jaggan International Airport to the Georgetown, and 2,000 rooms to serve internationally branded hotel chains.

“All this points to investment opportunities for Jamaican companies to participate in infrastructure development in both the oil and non-oil sectors of the Guyanese economy,” Hart told the Caribbean Business Report. “[So] there is renewed interest in Guyana-Jamaica trade relations.”

The AAJ chairman said there are also opportunities for investment in aggregates.

According to acting president of Jampro Shullette Cox, based on the initial feedback the companies, all agreed that they were able to have valuable discussions, meetings and/or insights during the mission. As a result, 40 per cent of the participants have expressed an interest or are planning to return to further discussions with partners.

“They found the scheduling of the business-to-business (B2B) meetings to be extremely useful in opening doors to opportunities and a platform from which other opportunities came up for their exploration,” she told Caribbean Business Report in an e-mailed response.

While in Guyana, at least one company revealed that it closed a deal with a partner and others said they are in the process of negotiating contracts.

When asked about plans to create a direct connection between the Caricom member states, Cox said that while the issue was raised between private sector level, nothing concrete was finalised. Senator Hill, who also responded to the question, noted that at the moment he could not provide a comment on behalf of the Government.

Encouraged by over 250 B2B meetings which took place during the week, though, the minister commended the Guyanese people for being very accommodating.

“We had a very good [mission] and a broad cross section of the private sector was represented,” he informed, listing stakeholders from logistics, manufacturing, construction and education, among others.

“I’m very pleased with the participation of the Jamaican companies and I’m very optimistic of the outcome in the near term,” he added, stopping short of calling the mission successful.

In the coming weeks, he said, the Ministry of Labour in Guyana will send a team to Jamaica to observe operations at the HEART Trust/NSTA with a view to signing a memorandum of understanding with the institution to provide apprenticeships and training, especially in tourism.

Over the next two months, the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce will lead two more missions to Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic.