LAST week I attended a very high calibre expo in Florida. The Florida International Trade and Cultural Expo (FITCE) exceeded my expectations. I must thank Mr Wesley Kirton for inviting me to participate as an exhibitor and Mr Dale Holness and team for an event well executed.
The University of Guyana, Guyanese American Chamber of Commerce,  Roraima Airways and, Suriname Airways also participated. From October 17-18, Broward County and all of South Florida welcomed local and international companies for a unique opportunity to engage key leaders, experts and attendees from around the world, to participate in dialogues relating to international trade, foreign direct investment and culture. The goal of FITCE is to expand Broward County as the premier importing and exporting trading capital while helping to establish new businesses and nurture existing businesses to spur continued growth.

The event had exhibitors and dignitaries from many countries including Former Presidents. Some of them were, His Excellency Álvaro Colom, former President of Guatemala; His Excellency Carlos Mesa, former President of Bolivia; the Honourable Erwin Contreras, Minister of International Trade and Petroleum for Belize; the Honourable John Kwet Mwan Kwet, Minister of International Relations of the Democratic Republic of Congo; The Honourable Bienvenue Liyota Nzoli, Minister of Small & Medium Businesses, Democratic Republic of Congo; The Honourable Ngoie Kasongo, Minister Emmanuel Ngoie Kasongo, Minister of External Affairs for the Democratic Republic of Congo; The Honourable Ferdinando Munóz, Mayor of Montebello, Colombia; The Honourable Gaynell Rolle, Under Secretary of Finance for the Bahamas, The Honourable Delroy Williams, Mayor of Kingston, Jamaica;The Honourable Manuel Masías, former Mayor of Miraflores, Peru; and other mayors, consul generals, deputy consuls, trade commissioners and bi-national chambers from 50 countries.

It was an honour to represent Guyana at this prestigious event but I expected to see more businesses using an event like this for advancement. I was proud to sit in the audience during Mr Kirton’s excellent presentation. He really sold Guyana and had many people engaging him with queries regarding different sectors of business. We have so much to offer as a country but also lots of missed opportunities. I made some excellent connections that already have things in motion for meaningful collaborations and this event is already on my 2018 calendar and I would love to see a bigger Guyanese presence.

I was exhausted after the two days because I had very little sleep in the 48 hours so the 19th was a relaxing day. You guys will probably laugh at me when I share this story because I did that. I was relaxing in the back seat enjoying the scenery as we made our way to the Marina to join some friends. I saw a breath-taking view of what I thought was a very beautiful park. Flowers, trees, benches and well-manicured lawns in a relaxing atmosphere. ”What a beautiful big park”, I said and Mr Kirton notified me that it was a cemetery and my response was well this is a place to die for lol.

My thoughts went to our Le Repentir and other cemeteries in Guyana and the horrible state they are in. Imagine that that’s the last resting place for your loved one and you can’t even be proud to visit. From all the cemeteries I have seen, ours is by far in the worst condition. I heard that there are people who are interested in private cemeteries and hopefully that will materialise in the near future. When my dogs died I was devastated that I could not bury them in a pet cemetery because none are available. Then reality stepped in and I realised that we don’t have a decent cemetery for humans much less animals. People say that you can measure how civilised a country is by the way it treats its dead. Judging by that yardstick, it would seem Guyana is not very civilised at all.

Trust you all had a great weekend and looking forward to a greater week ahead.
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