When Guyana’s Beharry Group and Jamaica’s Amber Group agreed to launch a new joint venture in technology and cybersecurity, the story started not in a boardroom, but in a crowded conference hall at the Caribbean Investment Forum (CIF) 2025 in Montego Bay. 

“I’ve been to every CIF since it started,” says Anand Harilall, Chief Strategy Officer of Beharry Group. “Based on the actual outcomes, I’ll say Jamaica was the best one – we got a partnership out of that.”  

Beharry Group is one of Guyana’s oldest and most diversified conglomerates, with more than 87 years in business and operations across six industry verticals including financial services, manufacturing, quick-service restaurants, mobility, energy services and now technology. As Group Strategy Officer, Harilall is responsible for charting the group’s path to 2030 and driving its ambition to become “a leading conglomerate in the region and beyond.”  

That growth vision made CIF a strategic priority. Harilall describes the Forum as a place where “all the key stakeholders are in one space” – development banks, investors, corporates and governments – creating rich opportunities to network, explore partnerships and showcase what Beharry is doing in high-growth markets like Guyana.  

The pivotal moment came during a CIF session on digital transformation led by Amber Group founder Dushyant Savadia. Digital transformation is a core pillar of Beharry’s 2030 strategy, so Harilall rearranged another meeting to hear the presentation. “A lot of what he said and what his business was doing was very much aligned with our business and the different industries that we’re in,” he recalls. After the session, “there were a slew of people waiting to engage him,” but Harilall “jumped the queue,” delivered a “minute and a half pitch,” and walked away with Savadia’s mobile number and an agreement to keep talking.  

What followed was classic CIF follow-through: virtual meetings, market visits and deep discussions about strategy, values and fit. “What’s critical with partnerships is alignment, shared values,” Harilall notes. Those conversations culminated in a joint venture focused on deploying Amber’s technology solutions both within the Beharry Group and across the Guyanese and wider Caribbean market.  

The collaboration is designed to accelerate Beharry’s own digital transformation—rolling out tools such as fleet and asset tracking, operational efficiency platforms and other enterprise solutions across its 14 operating companies—while positioning the new venture as a technology and cybersecurity solutions provider for government and private sector clients. With Caribbean and Latin American markets “highly susceptible to cyber-attacks,” Harilall sees a clear opportunity to strengthen resilience in areas such as e-government, health, education and financial services, building on Amber’s experience working with the Government of Jamaica.  

For Harilall, the partnership is a textbook example of what CIF is meant to achieve. The deal did not close in the conference room, but CIF created the environment, access and momentum that made it possible. “Sometimes the outcomes might be immediate; sometimes they happen over time through connections,” he says. “But if you weren’t there, you might not have been able to connect.”  

As Caribbean Export marks its 30th anniversary, the Beharry–Amber story stands out as a tangible result of the Caribbean Investment Forum’s convening power—turning a conference encounter into a regional partnership that will help build the Caribbean’s digital and cybersecurity backbone. 

Read more here: Annual Results Report 2025 | Caribbean Export