Agri Minister, PSC discuss collaboration to advance agro-industries

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, in a recent meeting with members of the Private Sector Commission’s (PSC) Agriculture Sub-Committee, discussed how the Government and the local private sector can collaborate to develop public-private partnerships to boost agro-processing and other industries in Guyana’s agriculture sector.

Speaking of the collaborative efforts between Government and the private sector to develop several transformative projects over the last five years, the Minister emphasised that investment should not just be a Government-only initiative.
“We have been putting in the infrastructure while the private sector has been making investments into the crops. We worked with the consortium, Tacama Gold, to cultivate corn and soya for the livestock sector. We put in the infrastructure, the roads, the silos, the wharf, and so on, and they made the investment in the cultivation. This is how we have to do things. It shouldn’t be a Government-only programme,” Minister Mustapha explained.
According to the Minister, with the Government investing heavily to modernise the agriculture sector in the next five years, it is an opportunity for the private sector to take the initiative because of the many opportunities for co-investments.
“We are looking to do a lot of infrastructural projects. In the next five years, we want to develop approximately 100,000 acres. If we are going to boost production, we need to have the supporting infrastructure, so we will be constructing massive farm-to-market roads. Last year, when the President met with residents from Region Three, he committed $50 billion for this. We are already working to develop 35,000 acres on the Upper Corentyne. We are investing heavily to modernise the sector, and this is where you, the private sector, can take the initiative because there are a lot of opportunities for co-investments. In terms of agro-processing, we want to move away from primary production and reduce wastage. So, we’ve been building thirteen agro-processing facilities across the country and outfitting them with the necessary equipment,” he noted.
Minister Mustapha also revealed that the Government had received proposals for the establishment of a small factory at Skeldon, as well as a refinery to produce white sugar.
“We are looking to restart the production of sugar at Skeldon. We already started to plant cane there, about 5000 hectares. By the end of this year, we’ll complete about 1000 hectares. We’re working with the private cane farmers who have about 10,000 to 12,000 acres. We are looking at a proposal we received from an investor from India for a small sugar factory there. For refined sugar, we have a proposal from Trinidad to build a refinery in Guyana,” the Minister explained.
Representative of the Private Sector Commission, Dr Komal Singh, told Minister Mustapha that the local private sector was also interested in establishing a sugar refinery in Guyana.
“You mentioned the white sugar refinery, and I want to bring it to your attention that the private sector is also looking at that. So, before a decision is made, we’re asking for our proposal to be considered. That should be ready in another week or two because we are looking to develop that refinery here. About two weeks ago, Belize began to move ahead, and they are going to be doing one in Belize. An MOU has already been signed between them and another company. They were looking to do it to satisfy the entire region, but I don’t think they have the capacity. I think Guyana still has an opportunity to do one here. So, the private sector is looking at that right now,” he noted.
Highlighting the opportunities for co-investment, Minister Mustapha also disclosed that the Government is moving ahead with the construction of storage facilities to support the local rice industry.
“In the rice industry, we see what is going on with the world market. So, we are looking to build storage facilities. The first will be built in Essequibo. The tender is out for the construction of a storage facility to store about two million bags of paddy. We are also looking at other areas to establish additional facilities,” he noted.