Local company in new joint venture to become ‘regional logistics powerhouse’

GK Logistics, a local company affiliated with the Roraima Group of Companies, has partnered with Ramps Logistics – a Trinidadian company that is now a Guyanese major-owned entity – in a bid to establish itself as a new logistics powerhouse in the Caribbean.

The joint venture partnership has led to the creation of Arapaima Logistics Incorporated. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing this new company was signed on Saturday evening at the Roraima Duke Lodge in Kingston, Georgetown.

Gerry Gouveia Jr., Director of GK Logistics, told Saturday’s gathering that the Roraima Group of Companies has long established itself as a key, local service provider for logistics, travel and hospitality.

Naturally, with the nascent oil and gas sector, Gouveia Jr. said that the company sought an opportunity to expand its operations.

He, however, pointed out that the local logistics company was not only intent on providing services to the oil and gas industry but also to other sectors and to other countries. The first area of focus will be Guyana’s agriculture sector.

“It’s our mandate to engage the agriculture sector and try to get the products from Guyana to the Caribbean and the United States (US),” Gouveia Jr. emphasised.

And Rudy Rampersaud, Vice President of Regional Initiatives at Ramps Logistics, said that the new company’s first project will be to export a container of about 10,000 coconuts from Guyana’s Pomeroon to the US.

This project sees the Arapaima building partnerships with local farmers in the Pomeroon, as part of efforts to create linkages within the local agricultural sector and help increase Guyana’s export market access.

“We plan to invest in and develop technology and processes to scale up its operations to create a regional logistics powerhouse,” Rampersaud emphasised.

He added, “The objective is to build technical capacity within our team to form a Caribbean supply chain and logistics company that can compete on an international level.”

Meanwhile, both Gouveia Jr. and Rampersaud noted that guaranteeing local content targets are met is a central focus. As such, GK Logistics will own 51 per cent of the new Arapaima company while Ramps Logistics, owns 49 per cent.

Additionally, Rampersaud noted that Ramps Logistics Guyana has been divested and is now a 51 per cent Guyanese-owned company.