Finance Minister meets potential int’l investors in agriculture sector

…says Govt committed to aggressively expanding non-oil economy

In keeping with the Government’s drive to aggressively expand the non-oil economy, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh held a follow-up meeting with potential international investors who have expressed an interest in Guyana’s soya bean and corn industry.

During the meeting, Minister Singh explained to the officials of the company in question, Elite Agro LLC of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), that traditionally, agriculture has been an extremely important anchor in Guyana’s economy and today will still be an important anchor in the non-oil economy.

He also indicated that with Guyana looking to expand the agricultural sector currently, two big streams of opportunities are available to Elite Agro LLC either to be a direct investor or to facilitate trade in agricultural commodities to other export destinations.

“Guyana has vast expanses of very rich and fertile land for agriculture. We have been for a long time a large-scale producer for specific agricultural crops such as sugar and rice, but we are now exporting a number of other commodities which are ready for large-scale cultivation and other crops that are poised for rapid expansion as well. We also produce a wide selection of livestock and meat for consumption,” Dr Singh pointed out.

Expanding further on the agricultural sector under his portfolio during his presentation to Elite Agro LLC, Minister Mustapha indicated that with the emergence of oil and gas, it is expected that the oil and gas sector will complement the non-oil sector and Government will invest in infrastructure to support the development and expansion of the agricultural sector.

Wrapping up the meeting, Minister Singh indicated that his Government alongside the Private Sector is aggressively pursuing investment as quickly as possible as this will aid in the expansion of Guyana’s economy as well as facilitate job-creation.

“We are a very stable environment, both politically and economically. Guyana is now a place where we are having conversations with all of the big companies of the world (and not just in agriculture) and this is a signal of how attractive we are for investment,” the Finance Minister concluded.

The company in question, Elite Agro LLC, was represented by Business Development Director Chandra Pratap Singh and Chief Operating Officer Emil Moukarzel. During the meeting, Singh was accompanied by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Oneidge Walrond, as well as Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Paul Cheong.

A consortium of existing investors in corn and soya bean in Guyana was also represented there by the head of the consortium, David Fernandes. Sachin Singh, who heads another Private Sector consortium dealing with the expansion of the seafood sector, was also there.

During the meeting, the Private Sector representatives provided extensive and detailed presentations to Elite Agro LLC on agriculture (including corn and soya bean) and seafood along with the available opportunities for investment in these areas.

The meeting was a follow-up to earlier meetings held between President Irfaan Ali and officials of Elite Agro LLC (one of the UAE’s leading agriculture companies, having large scale integrated farming operations and currently engaged in growing, sourcing, importing and marketing of agricultural products).

Also present at Monday’s meeting were Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Permanent Secretary Sharon Roopchand, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), Dr Peter Ramsaroop and Technical Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture Aditya Persaud.

It was only last week that harvesting began at a 115-acre cultivation located in Ebini, approximately 70 miles south of Georgetown along the Berbice River. The ranch is being developed by a consortium of investors that includes the owners of Guyana Stock Feed Ltd, Royal Chicken, Edun Farms, SBM Wood, Dubulay Ranch, and Bounty Farm Ltd, along with the Brazilian-owned NF Agriculture.

Back in April, Assistant Managing Director of Bounty Farm Limited, David Fernandes had explained the group’s vision for the project. During his presentation, Fernandes said that Guyana has long been touted as having the potential of being the bread basket of the Caribbean and that in recent years there has been a greater appreciation of the high dependence on imports for livestock feeds.

With Guyana spending close to US$25 million annually on proteins just for the poultry sector, Government, since taking office, has taken steps to promote domestic cultivation of grains like corn and soya bean. Government, in its 2020 Emergency Budget, removed Value-Added Tax (VAT) on agricultural machinery, fertilisers, agrochemicals, and pesticides, making it more feasible for such investments.