Guyana President Ali reaches Belize to attend CARICOM’s inter-sessional meeting

Guyana: President Dr Irfaan Ali arrived at the San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize, on Monday (February 28, 2022). Irfaan Ali reached Belize to attend the Thirty-Third Inter-Sessional Meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

President Ali has reached to attend the meet with his delegation, including – Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd and other officials.

The two-day conference will begin from March 1st, 2022 and will conclude on March 2nd. It will be a face-to-face meeting.

Expectedly, the President Dr Irfaan Ali will be the Lead Head of Government in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Quasi-Cabinet, and is expected to “introduce a new comprehensive strategy that will tackle the Caribbean’s expensive food import bill and help guarantee the region’s food security.”

President Ali informed that there are expectations that this “comprehensive strategy” would help in the reduction of the food import bill by 25 percent by 2025, three years from now.

Currently, the food import bill in the region is more than US $4 billion, per year. In Guyana, this bill is known as the agricultural prowess and around 40 percent of the food consumed by the residents is imported.

In Guyana, the government has adopted various initiatives to increase the production of the crops and meat. The country has also been focusing on the removal of the intra-regional trade barriers as the nation not only aims to boost food production in the country.

President Ali, since assuming office in August 2020, has showed intense feeling in removal of intra-regional trade barriers.

He further mentioned that the CARICOM, economic integration efforts, led by Prime Minister of Barbadian Mia Amor Mottley, will assist the country with removal of these barriers.

CARICOM is a regional bloc built to promote free movement of people and goods. The Caribbean Community has been criticized for not achieving this goal, this country not just include Guyana but other Caribbean islands.