President Bharrat Jagdeo told an Agri-Business Investment Seminar on Sunday last that investing in the agriculture sector particularly in aquaculture will net high returns.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release Jagdeo told the meeting that agriculture is vitally important to Guyana’s economy and several opportunities exist in the sector. He told businesspersons assembled at the Seminar and Mini Exhibition held at Naresa’s Palace in South Ozone Park that based on research done by international consultancy firm Mc Kinsey, aquaculture will net the highest returns as cultivating “one hectare of land is twice that of doing rice on the same acre of land.”
Jagdeo who is lead head for agriculture in Caricom said the challenges encountered this year when food prices spiralled engendered a “renewed focus on agriculture.” He said the ministry is incorporating “a plantation type of agriculture” side by side with small-scale agriculture and plans are in train to cultivate soya bean in the intermediate savannahs. “The Brazilians are doing this on the other side of the river. You have large ventures; the smaller ones you can piggyback on them for research and marketing support,” the President said. He also told the meeting that Guyana is unique because in the near future it will be able to produce even more food.
‘Generation Reforms’
Jagdeo said too his government has been engaged for some time on ‘generation reforms’ where “from an unstable macroeconomic situation, triple digit inflation, huge fiscal deficit, huge debt, among others, he explained that Guyana has managed to achieve stable macro economic fundamentals.” He said too reforms were also done in infrastructure though “we still have a long way to go, bridges etc. that will support … investment, education and health care and a number of other things.”
Guyana has reached a stage where it needs to move to a second generation level of reforms “that are more quality, reforms that are more direct,” Jagdeo said. “Many people talk about land availability and if you talk maybe 10 years ago, we didn’t have a clue opening some areas because for 30 years we have had land given out to people – some sold, some leased, some given out as leases without any record keeping,” the President added. He said too another number of reforms are needed; noting the closure of a bid for hydro power that is to supply the country with electricity. Also, several other developments such as the completion of the Berbice River Bridge, are expected to impact on agriculture.
Climate change
As regards climate change Jagdeo said deforestation contributes 20 per cent of green house gases and that it is critical for countries to cut their emission levels. According to Jagdeo in order to prevent catastrophic climate changes developed countries would have to agree to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 8% which would mean changing society itself he said, adding that it is estimated that the threshold is 2 tons of carbon by 2050. The president told the seminar that the issue remains at the forefront of plans for Guyana as it forms “part of our policy now as we move to low carbon economy.”
Macroeconomic climate
Alluding to the current financial crisis, Jagdeo said, “We in Guyana think we can ride it out. Our financial system is essentially sound, we had nine enterprises that were owned by the state in the financial sector, and all were privatized without costing the treasury a single cent.” He said too Guyana has some of the toughest laws, financial institutions act, and regulations because the government recognises that financial institutions can affect the real setting in a significant way. “If you ask me about the economy of the future, I would say that the traditional sectors would play a smaller role, sugar, rice, bauxite, and the forestry and fishing… some type of agriculture will grow like offshore fishing, maybe constant, but aquaculture will grow, tourism, and information technology.” He said too explorations for oil and gas are also ongoing.
Jagdeo also told potential investors that he has instructed that the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) to speed up the processing of investment applications to one week. To facilitate this he said he has instructed that a dedicated desk be set up to assist investors by ensuring that they have access to all the necessary information.
According to GINA, US Ambassador to Guyana John Jones and Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud also made presentations at the seminar.