‘There are a lot of Guyanese products that would be loved in the UK’ – British diplomat 

By: Vahnu Manikchand

Even as she highlights the opportunities to expand trade relations between Guyana and the United Kingdom, outgoing British High Commissioner to Guyana Jane Miller underscored the importance for Guyanese manufacturers and producers to adhere to international standards in order to gain access into new foreign markets.

High Commissioner Miller, who departs Guyana today after completing a four-year tenure, told this publication n an interview that bilateral trade between Guyana and the UK continues to accelerate year-on-year.

“The total trade was about £1.7 billion pounds [for 2025], so it’s been increasing every year. When I first arrived here, it had tripled since, so a massive increase in trade,” she posited.

Guyana’s trade relations with the United Kingdom moved from approximately £587 million in 2020 to £1.134 billion in 2022, after a drop in 2021, then climbed to £1.3 billion in 2023 and a further £1.64 billion at the end of 2024.

But even with this threefold increase, High Commissioner Miller believes there is more scope to expand bilateral trade between the two countries – something which she says Guyanese companies must be prepared to tap into.

“I think there are a lot of Guyanese products that would be loved in the UK, whether it’s honey or chocolate or coffee or pepper sauces. There’s so much that is produced here. [But] the key thing is to make sure that you keep the phytosanitary standards really high. You know, you’ve got to have the labelling correct; you’ve got to make sure that they’re safe and make sure they’re transported correctly. So, there are lots of things to be done to make sure the standards are absolutely right,” she posited.

According to the British Diplomat, this is something her country is ready to work with local stakeholders on to ensure that businesses here fully equipped to enter overseas markets.

“So, we’re hoping to do some work with different businesses in terms of getting those standards up to scratch,” she added.

Currently, Guyana is the UK’s largest trading partner in the Caribbean region and High Commissioner Miller contends that there are lots of opportunities to grow this partnership.

In fact, just last November, the fifth UK Trade Mission was in Guyana to explore business opportunities here, and according to the British Diplomat, there have been significant strides in those discussions.

“So, it had people from the healthcare sector, education, infrastructure, and IT [Information Technology]. So, a whole range of different businesses. And I think that’s the beauty of some of these missions, where we bring the wealth and the range of UK expertise to Guyana for Guyana to sort of identify what’s going to be important for them.’

“There’s a couple of businesses that are now talking about next steps. It takes a while to get things going. This was only November, so we don’t have any big deals signed yet. But we’ve got some ones that we’re progressing and we’re very excited by,” the Diplomat stated.

Meanwhile, rolling four-quarter data for the second quarter of 2025 as of November last year showed that the UK exports £883 million to Guyana and imports £679 million from Guyana.

Against this backdrop, President Dr Irfaan Ali, during a reception held to welcome that trade mission in Georgetown last year, highlighted the opportunities available to expand Guyana’s offerings to the British market.

“Guyana’s export continues to be dominated by commodities. Much of what we send abroad remains primary goods… We in Guyana are eager to shift that balance, to see a growing portion of our exports emerge as manufactured, industrial or value-added goods. But to do so, we need game-changing investments,” the head of state had declared.

Those investments, according to President Ali, must target infrastructure, energy, manufacturing capacity, skills development, technology and agro-processing.
In fact, High Commissioner Miller had previously called for more British companies to explore opportunities in Guyana’s agriculture and agro-processing sectors – something which she is hopeful will happen in the coming years.

“We’ve been engaging with a number of businesses and hoping that they’ll come out here. We haven’t seen a massive uptick in new companies, but I’m hoping over the next year you will be seeing some more. We’ve been trying to promote the Guyana market in the UK, letting them know what the opportunities are.”
“I think with the new infrastructure, with new roads, it’s becoming more attractive. When people recognise the potential, then I think they’ll come out here. So, I think bit by bit, we’re trying to promote what is here in Guyana and also to Guyanese, promoting what the UK has to offer. So, I think over time, hopefully you’re going to see more agriculture [investments],” the British Diplomat told this newspaper on Wednesday.

In recent years, there has been a tremendous appetite by the UK Government and businesses for partnership with their Guyanese counterparts. Back in November 2022, the British Government lifted the visa requirement for Guyanese travelling to the UK, and a few months later, British Airways commenced flights to Guyana in March 2023.