Caribbean, French Guiana business chambers hope to push trade, investment

Last Updated on Friday, 3 October 2014, 2:28 by GxMedia

The Caribbean and French Guiana Chambers of Commerce on Thursday inked a 10-year deal to boost trade and investment between the region and that Overseas Department of France.

President of the Caribbean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CAIC), Ramesh Dookhoo said the two sides would each exchange the names of 20 companies that could explore business opportunities. “In a practical sense, we are going to look at bringing these businesses together, whether they are based in French Guiana or whether they are based in France,” he said.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) provides for the two business organizations to “work towards the exchange of mutually acceptable sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards.” “That has to be a priority for us. We need to get those standards translated into English so our companies who want to export to French Guiana and perhaps into France can enable themselves to understand what those SPS  (sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards) standards are,” he said

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of French Guiana have also agreed to encourage authorities across the Caribbean and French Guiana to recognize professional certificates and skills.

The CAIC and its French Guiana counterpart have also decided to exchange information about applicable copyright laws, trade and investment promotion. Provision has been also made for trade fairs, seminars and meetings to introduce companies to each other.