Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) officially received the license on Tuesday for the first-ever World Trade Center to be set up in the Caribbean.
The World Trade Center Guyana office will be located at DDL’s High Street, Kingston, Georgetown office.
The office will be transformed into the center which will provide a range of opportunities for local businesses and organisations to enhance their networking capabilities globally. Work on the interior redesign of the building has already begun.
The official license was handed over by the New York-headquartered World Trade Center Association (WTCA) at a virtual ceremony.
In attendance were Guyana’s Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond; Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine, WTCA Chairman, John Drew; former Secretary-General of the Central American Integration System (SICA), Vinicio Cerezo and DDL Executive Chairman Komal Samaroo.
“The World Trade Centre is coming to one of the most promising economies in the world, in partnership with a Guyanese company that is second to none, comparable with the best that may be encountered anywhere on the globe,” Minister Walrond said in her address.
She noted that DDL is yet again breaking new ground and forging new paths that blaze a trail for other local companies to follow.
Former Secretary-General Vinicio Cerezo, in extending congratulations to DDL said, “Guyana with its English roots has always represented a special link with our neighbours in the north. Also, by hosting the headquarters of CARICOM you are connecting Latin America with the Caribbean. The meeting recently with SICA and CARICOM was very important, showing that every day we have to work together and join forces on many multilateral and corporation issues.”
Meanwhile, Samaroo explained that with the establishment of the World Trade Centre here, local businesses now have the potential to expand and trade with international partners.
“Guyana is a small country with a population of less than a million at the present time. Therefore, any business operation that requires economies of scale to be competitive cannot rely on the domestic market only. It must be able to find markets in other countries around the world,” Samaroo said.
There are over 320 World Trade Centers in more than 100 countries on every continent globally. The WTCA stimulates trade and investment opportunities for commercial property developers, economic development agencies, and international businesses looking to connect globally and prosper locally.
The association serves as an ‘international ecosystem’ of global connections, iconic properties, and integrated trade services under the umbrella of a prestigious brand. (Modified DDL press release)
