Guyana leads way in 15% reduction of CARICOM food import bill

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A vegetable stall at a market in Georgetown The World Trade Organisation (WTO) was recently informed of Guyana’s role in the milestones achieved by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), particularly in the areas of food and climate security.

According to a statement from the Permanent Mission of Guyana in Geneva, Switzerland, ministers of trade and other public officials from all around the world, recently met with various multilateral organisations at the WTO’s office in Geneva, Switzerland.

During this meeting, Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Ambassador Leslie Ramsammy, informed the WTO of the food security concerns within the region and the 25 by 2025 initiative, which seeks to slash food imports into CARICOM by 25 per cent by 2025.

The 25 by 2025 initiative, which is the brainchild of President Dr. Irfaan Ali, has so far managed to reduce the region’s food imports by 15 per cent. Ramsammy also expressed confidence that the overall goals of the initiative will be met within the time frame.

The Ambassador noted the widespread support the initiative has received including from CARICOM itself, President Lula of Brazil and organisations that include the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank.

Ramsammy explained that inter-regional trade accounts for 15 per cent of all trade between Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and the world. Ramsammy pointed out that in 2022, only $227 billion (14.9 per cent) of Foreign Direct Investment into LAC countries, of which Guyana is one, came from trade within the region. Trade with the European Union (EU) accounted for 17 per cent, while the United States (US) accounted for a whopping 38 per cent.

“Ambassador Ramsammy highlighted that the low trade participation between LAC countries applies even at the sub-regional levels with Intra-regional imports among various blocks being 14 per cent for the CACM (Central American Common Market) countries, 18 per cent for CARICOM countries and only 12 per cent for the LAIA (Latin America Integration Association) countries,” the statement explained.

Ambassador Ramsammy highlighted that similar to inter-regional imports, inter-regional exports painted the same picture in 2022, with it being 25.6 per cent among CACM countries, 20 per cent for CARICOM and 12.3 per cent for LAIA countries. Moreover, further emphasising the unbalanced trade regime, he bemoaned the fact that most trade (import and export) in agri-food products occurs in North America, Europe and China. He urged more near-shoring of the trade regime for LAC.

According to him, the ‘25 by 2025’ was built on the back of a similar initiative that was promoted by another Guyana President, in this case, former President Bharrat Jagdeo, who during his tenure in office (1999-2011) introduced the Jagdeo Initiative (JI).

“The JI in 2003, developed with the support of the FAO and IICA, recognised that CARICOM’s agricultural sector was neither providing for food security nor earning the foreign exchange to cover the Caribbean’s growing food import bill.”

“The JI, therefore, sought to remove constraints in production, trade policies, transportation, manufacturing and financing to secure food and nutrition security and inter-country trade within CARICOM,” the release states.

Ramsammy pointed to Guyana’s domestic successes in agriculture, the budget for which has increased dramatically to almost $120 billion this year. This, according to the minister, is an overall increase of about 800 per cent throughout five budgets, and the increase has borne fruit.

“The result is that rice production is set to increase to over 700,000 tonnes in 2024; Guyana is set to meet 100 per cent of its needs for soya and corn by 2026/2027 and to become an exporter of soya and corn by 2028; the country has rolled-out production of new crops to reduce imports and to also export, including millet, red beans, black beans, potato, onions, garlic, grapes, wheat, quinoa,” the statement explains.

Guyana’s achievements with its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) were also highlighted with Guyana being the only country with certified carbon credits, to also offer them to the aviation industry, he urged a fairer system to reward countries for carbon credits.

A carbon credit is a tradable permit or certificate that allows the holder of the credit the right to emit a stated tonnage of carbon dioxide or an equivalent of another greenhouse gas. Countries and companies that exceed their permitted limits can purchase carbon credits from nations that have low emissions such as Guyana.

Meanwhile, Ramsammy also spoke of Guyana’s mangrove restoration programme and the work it has done in promoting small enterprises’ economic activities, as a way of monetising the Blue Economy (use of the ocean to generate income).

“Ambassador Ramsammy lauded this as an example of how Guyana is taking leadership in the Blue Economy sector in the Region. In this regard, the ambassador spoke of expansion of the aquaculture industry in Guyana, citing the production of brackish shrimp, prawns etc., especially lauding the 755 per cent increase of brackish shrimp production between 2021 and 2023,” the release stated.

Also attending the forum was Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce Oneidge Walrond, who was a guest panellist in two important public forums. On September 12, she was a featured panellist at a forum where participants considered the following topic: Inclusive Policies, Global Impact: Ensuring the Best Use of Special and Differential Treatment.

Additionally, on that very day, Minister Waldron was a guest panellist on a second public forum that considered the following topic: THE BIG BLUE AGENDA: CAN SIDS THRIVE IN A REGLOBALISED WORLD?

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