The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will be hosting a two-day International Agriculture Investment Forum in Guyana early next month in light of soaring food prices in the Caribbean and around the globe.
The Forum will be opened by host, President Bharrat Jagdeo who is also Lead CARICOM Head of Government on agriculture. Secretary General of CARICOM Edwin Carrington will also speak at the opening ceremony.
According to a press release from the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, the Forum which is scheduled to commence on June 6 will provide an un-paralleled and unprecedented opportunity for governments, farmers, entrepreneurs and investment bankers to meet in one place and discuss issues ranging from the setting up of mega farms, using tracts of uncultivated land in the Caribbean, to the need for technological improvements in the agriculture sector.
There will also be focus towards making the Caribbean a net exporter and user of food produced in the Region.
Adequate time is expected to be devoted over the two days to allow potential investors to have one-on-one networking and discussion sessions with farmers, fund managers, commercial and investment bankers, and land owners, cabinet ministers dealing with industry, agriculture and development as well as agricultural experts among others attending the Forum.
On June 8, there will also be field trips to strategic agricultural projects and to land areas being offered to CARICOM and international investors at extremely low rates, the release stated.
Confirmation about attendance and participation has to date come from a number of North American, Latin American and Caribbean groups, including Sunbird Foods of Florida, Agro Machines of Brazil and the Canada-Caribbean Business Council/Gui Grow from Ontario, Canada.
The Inter-American Develop-ment Bank (IDB) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the World Bank and the Fund of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting States (OPEC) are also expected to participate fully at the two-day Forum, the first of its kind specifically dealing with agriculture and food production.
The release quoted Coordinator Maxine Harris as saying that she is confident that the Forum will provide investors “with screened, solid” projects and investment opportunities which have good potential for further development.
The idea of the Investors Forum emerged from discussions among CARICOM Heads of Government about promoting growth in the agriculture sector.
It was agreed that the increased levels of public and private financing would be needed to promote higher levels of innovation and growth and ensure that the Caribbean got its share of an increasing global market in food-based products, she said.
According to the release, an issue that is expected to attract the attention of participants, fund managers and venture capitalists in particular, is likely to be the presentation by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on the ‘mega farms’ concept that it has been pushing in recent months.
Organisers will also present a dossier they have complied on bankable projects in several CARICOM member states. Guyana, Suriname, Belize, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are the countries with the largest land areas available for agricultural development.
