A team of investors from Palnorte, a company that owns and operates palm oil mills in Colombia, met with Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of establishing a local palm oil industry.
A release from the Ministry of Agriculture said that during the meeting, Mustapha said that the government has declared Guyana open for business and was prepared to work with both the local and overseas-based private sector companies.
Although Guyana was once a producer of palm oil at Wauna in the north west, the industry has been dormant for many years as no new plantations have been developed.
In the past there have been approaches by investors from a number of countries including Malaysia for palm oil plantations.
The release noted that earlier this year, President Irfaan Ali disclosed that he held bilateral discussions that could see Guyana producing coffee and palm oil. He had held talks with the President of Guatemala Alejandro Giammattei Falla at a Central American and Caribbean summit.
While addressing media operatives, the Head of Stated said “We’re talking about helping us to revitalize, improve coffee production in Guyana (and) other high-value crops like palm oil,”.
Mustapha said that in addition to being a lucrative industry, the cultivation of palm oil trees will also contribute to promoting Guyana’s green agenda as the crop when mature is said to capture as much carbon dioxide as a rainforest tree.
“1 hectare of palm oil is said to collect approximately 30 tons of carbon dioxide and releases 21 tons of oxygen yearly,” the minister said.
