PM Keith Rowley urges private sector to avail opportunities in Guyana and Suriname

Prime Minister Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago has been very vocal recently about the fact that the private sector has failed to avail agribusiness opportunities in Guyana and Suriname.

Prime Minister Rowley spoke of the issue at the Piarco International Airport on Wednesday, after his return from the recent CARICOM Summit, which brought together Caribbean heads of State in Guyana.

He expressed his disappointment and said that these kinds of opportunities must be explored as they can be beneficial for Trinidad and Tobago, as well as their subsequent partners.

He added that there are many such opportunities to avail in CARICOM nations, adding that, “One of the things I’d also like to see is the Trinidad and Tobago business sector being involved in the agribusiness in Guyana. There are people from all over the world who are there getting land in Guyana and Suriname and taking the opportunities, and it was raised at CARICOM with private sector representatives that there’s a certain element of disappointment that we have not seen our own private sector taking the risk, leading the charge to utilize the land that is available.”

“For example Suriname has made available probably around 3,000 acres of land for CARICOM private sector people coming and land is available for agriculture. There has not been a single taker so far.”

“So the excitement at the level of the political directorate is not mirrored by the private sector taking up these offers which had not been on the table before.”

According to Prime Minister Rowley, Trinidad and Tobago is in the process of increasing food production in the nation with support from Guyana and has already made significant inroads in terms of rice production which now encompasses 1,000 acres instead of a mere 100.

The government of Trinidad and Tobago has also acquired 500 coconut saplings and is looking to buy more to bump up coconut production in a similar manner.

The rice production figures as a result of these efforts are quite impressive as the nation has already harvested 340 tons of rice with the expectation that the figure will expand in the coming days as harvesting is completed.

The most important aspect of these efforts is that they align with CARICOM’s decision to reduce the region’s food import bill by 25%, before 2025.