Regional private sector urged to be more proactive in Caricom’s developmental agenda

The regional private sector was on Wednesday encouraged to be more proactive in the Caribbean Community’s (Caricom’s) developmental agenda, which seeks to resolve pressing issues, including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME); the progress towards implementing the free movement of all Caribbean nationals; climate change; financing; and regional security.
President Dr. Irfaan Ali, also serving as Caricom Chairman, emphasized that while governments would continue to offer incentives to the private sector to enhance their engagement in trade and other sectors, these entities must now devise innovative strategies to address present challenges.
He referred to the 250,000 hectares of land made available in Guyana for regional investors more than a decade ago, in order to increase yield in food commodities such as corn and soy, and noted that, to date, no interest has been received.
The Head of State noted that that same body of land would today make Guyana self-sufficient in grains, aiding in the country becoming the net exporter of corn and soy in the region by 2026.
He noted that regional private sector involvement in the project, which coincides with CARICOM’s “25 by 2025” goal, would have propelled development of the agriculture sector even further.
“We will be using that grain to create the forward and backward linkages in the feed (animal feed) right here. That will save us more than US$30 million in imports every year. So, these are some of the realities I just wanted to address; not to be harsh, but to be factual; to be open as we discuss how we are going to build this region,” the president said.
Further, President Ali emphasized that investment opportunities are beyond agriculture. He referred to several projects across the Caribbean in infrastructure, transport and logistics, healthcare, tourism, and ecological services that require investment.
“We have to leverage capital that’s already in the system. We have to move away from operating in silos and build more regional partnership… Here, in Guyana, for example, we are looking at the development of prefab homes. We have to look at how we create high-yielding output and opportunities that answer the issue of resilience and sustainability in terms of revenue”, he explained.
The Guyanese Leader was at the time addressing the opening of the third Caribbean Investment Forum at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown. It was held from July 10 to 12.
As this year’s host country, Guyana centred discussions on crucial topics such as sustainable agriculture, transitioning to a green economy, and the digitisation of business operations.
In this regard, agriculture and food security were high on the list, along with the target of achieving cheaper energy by 2025 in order to facilitate large-scale agro-processing and sustainable farming.
The conference also provided a platform for businesses to showcase their developmental plans and projects to potential investors, given that another key objective of the forum is to foster joint ventures and partnerships, particularly in sectors like tourism, to enhance collaboration and product offerings.
Some 400 bankable investors from the region attended the event, which included an exposition for local private companies.