A two-week training programme in aqua culture technology was on Monday formally launched at the Regency Hotel in Georgetown.
This collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and the People’s Republic of China will see the Fujian Institute of Oceanography (FJIO) conducting the training sessions for thirty local participants.
The training sessions, which began last Friday and will end on September 28, has seen participants making trips to regions within the country.
At the opening ceremony, Liu Mingzhe, Vice President of China’s Ministry of Commerce, described Guyana as one of the most suitable countries for aquaculture development.
“It was widely recognised as one of the most suitable countries for aquaculture development in the world because of its outstanding natural conditions, and so China has an ambition to make this beautiful country not only rich in water — in clean water and in a beautiful green forest..,” he said.
Mingzhe said although this is the Fujian Institute’s first training session in Guyana and the number of participants is small, his country hopes to build stronger ties for future engagements.
“We do hope this training course could build up a bridge for further fishery cooperation between China and this country, and further enhance the tradition of friendship between the two nations,” Mingzhe said.
Agriculture Minister Noel Holder has said that notwithstanding measures implemented by his ministry, new sources must be considered and enforced to address the dwindling marine resources in Guyana.
He said, “One such measure is the development of a thriving aquaculture sector to replace the shortfall anticipated in marine resources. The Government of Guyana has placed this as a priority area, and we will be pushing this agenda.”
Cui Jianchun, Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, said though this is the first training session conducted in the Caribbean through the institute, he hopes to see more training seminars being undertaken between Guyana and China, locally and internationally.
Participants benefiting from the exercise include Government officers, technicians, staff members of various enterprises, and aquaculture farmers who are working in the area of aquaculture, aquatic products’ processing and distribution, as well as fisheries management.
According to the Department of Public Information, since 2005 FJIO undertook the China-Aid training programmes sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, PRC. It has organized 77 bilateral or multilateral training courses/seminars which focused on Marine Management and Development of Blue Economy, Integrated Coastal Management and Marine Fisheries Management, to name a few.
