Businessmen in Africa have also
called for Chinese companies to
establish manufacturing entities in
African countries, instead of only
importing large quantities of raw
materials and exporting finished goods.
"The business community is
calling on the Chinese government
through its embassy to promote more
Chinese investment [here]," Boyer
told Stabroek News, adding that there
needs to be more bilateral trade and
investment. He explained that if one
should add the value of the indirect
trade of Chinese goods to the bilateral
trade of US$25M (the figure for January
to September this year) the importation
of Chinese goods would be much higher.
At National Hardware, around 70% of
all the goods in the store came directly
from China in addition to made-in-China
items imported through other countries.
Boyer said that at times he would
import Chinese goods through Panama,
Jamaica or from French Guiana. Boyer
noted that China leads the world in
production of hardware items, building
materials, electronics, shoes and
apparel.
Nicholas Boyer, a United States-based
economist pointed out that one reason
for the influx of Chinese goods and
their low prices was because China has
an enormous labour force. Hence, China
could afford to pay lower wages than
companies in Europe or North America,
lowering the cost of production.
China's population hit 1.3 billion
this year.
Nizam Ali, Gafoor's
Director of Purchasing at its
Houston Complex, told Stabroek News that
consumers preferred to buy Chinese goods
because they were cheaper. This trend,
he said, began over 15 years ago and he
expects it to continue.
Among the Chinese items that were
price-competitive at the store were
hardware, toys and decorative and
household items. But similar items from
places like India, Indonesia, South
Korea and Thailand were also very
price-competitive, Ali noted.
A check at Fogarty's supermarket
revealed that a large percentage of the
decorations for the holiday season and
gift items carried the made-in-China
label. However, it was not the same with
cosmetics, food and liquor.
Public Relations Officer of the
Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS),
Evadnie Inniss-Fields, said the bureau
did not check the quality of items based
on their country of origin but if there
were complaints, it would investigate
those. Recently, a warning was put out
on the quality of some Chinese kettles.
Speaking at the 73rd Berbice Chamber
of Commerce and Development Association
(BCCDA) annual luncheon on December 12,
China's Ambassador to Guyana Shen Qing
noted that this year there was an
increase in trade with China and over
the period January to September
bilateral trade amounted to US$25.82M,
an increase of 64% over the same period
last year.
There was no information on the value
of trade in each direction.
At that event, Shen urged the BCCDA
to promote information sharing between
the two sides, recommend good projects
for investment and co-operation, provide
consultative service, transmit wants and
wishes to the government, clear barriers
and create a more favourable
environment.
A Chinese company is constructing the
new sugar estate at Skeldon and the
International Conference Centre at
Liliendaal, funded and built by China,
is to be handed over soon.