Dominican Republic investors eyeing local value-added rice production opportunities

The government recently met with a delegation from the Dominican Republic (DR), a country that has long pursued closer ties with Guyana, where investment opportunities in Guyana’s agriculture sector were explored.

Meeting the delegation was Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha. According to the ministry following the meeting, the delegation included investors that are interested in opportunities in value added production, particularly in the rice sector.
These investors, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, are interested in bringing new and innovative technologies that can aid in value added rice production.
“The group is also looking to establish facilities to boost Guyana’s Export potential and capabilities. Minister Mustapha outlined the current strides that the government is making in the rice sector as well as the industry’s current targets.”
“He pointed out that the rice sector has already surpassed its half-year target and is expecting an excellent harvest for the upcoming crop,” the Ministry said, also revealing that the delegation is looking to partner and collaborate with both the private sector and the government.
In April 2024, the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) had reported surpassing its production target for the first crop of the year with approximately 209,000 acres of rice under cultivation.
In 2023, the rice sector recorded an increase of seven per cent with a production of 653,706 metric tonnes. This signifies an increase of 43,111 metric tonnes in 2023 as compared to 610,595 in 2022. Guyana earned approximately $45.2 billion in exports in 2023, over $3 billion more than in 2022.
This year, $1.3 billion was budgeted to be expended by the GRDB to support increased production and productivity of the rice industry. The 2024 target for rice production is 710,000 tonnes, which is an increase of 10 percent from last year.

Guyana and the Dominican Republic have been making efforts to strengthen bilateral ties in recent years. Only last year, President Dr Irfaan Ali had signed several agreements with President Luis Abinader during an official two-day visit to that country. These agreements included one for the joint establishment of an oil refinery in Guyana.
In the months leading up to the signing, ties between Guyana and the DR had grown closer as the leaders of the two countries met at various forums.
President Ali continued those bilateral efforts when he and First Lady Arya Ali arrived in the Dominican Republic for their visit along with a large delegation of Government officials and members of Guyana’s Private Sector.
As per the terms of the agreement on the oil refinery, the DR will have 51 per cent ownership of the refinery. The Government has since gone out to tender for proposals to build a refinery in Berbice with a 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity. It has also been revealed that four out of the 11 companies that had submitted proposals last year were shortlisted.
When it comes to agriculture, it is understood that joint production of agricultural products such as corn and soybeans, as well as partnerships in the poultry sector, were discussed.
According to President Ali, the agreements in agriculture between the two countries will ensure their prominence at the table whenever food security is discussed.
In June 2023, President Abinader had himself arrived in Guyana for a one-day visit where talks progressed about potential collaboration.
Following bilateral talks between President Ali and President Abinader at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Greater Georgetown, senior Ministers from the two nations signed three pacts to strengthen collaboration, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in energy-related matters.
This MoU established a framework to facilitate and enhance bilateral cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector of the two countries based on equality and mutual benefit.
It included the promotion of investments in each other’s countries, as well as technology transfer, research and development, the building of human resources, and collaboration in the natural gas sector.