African Caribbean and Pacific (APC) Spokesperson on sugar, Satya Veyash Faugoo, yesterday told ACP Ministers that the way out of the economic meltdown is not to look inwards but to kick-start their economies by fighting protectionism and creating more opportunities for tourism investment

Speaking at the 11th Special ACP Ministerial Conference at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, Faugoo said sustainable development may be the solution to the current problem.

He said in the ACP states, sugar cane is the most suitable agricultural crop that can provide the basis for assisting in growth in the real economy because of the multi-functional role it plays as well as its resistance to the effects of climate change.

The ACP Spokesman said that the financial and economic crises present an opportunity to re-think and overhaul the global financial and economic governance to take into account the new realities of the 21st century.

“It cannot be business as usual, if we were to prevent such crises happening again. In this respect, there is a crying and urgent need for collective and coordinated efforts to reform the mandates of the international financial institutions and multi-lateral development banks in order to give emerging economies and developing countries, including the poor, greater voice and responsibilities,” he pointed out.

He said for the ACP member states to adapt their sugar cane industry to the new and unpredictable situation, they have to improve their productivity and competitiveness.

“In addition, we have to move up the value chain in order to face the dire consequences of the price cuts. We have to re-think our sugar cane industry in order to move from manual sugar cane production to a cane cluster that will co-generate environmentally friendly energy, produce ethanol and high-value sugar-containing products,” Faugoo urged.

He is of the view that the fuel and fuel crises, and in a way the price reduction, may be a blessing in disguise to give a new lease of life to the ACP countries sugar sector.