— President Ali to intervene in matter

PRESIDENT Dr Irfaan Ali and President of Panama Laurentino Cortizo are expected to speak directly on outstanding payments for rice shipments to the Spanish-speaking country, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said.
Panama owes Guyana GY$ 1.9 billion.
In an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle, the minister explained that the Government of Panama has not paid Guyana since 2019 and Cabinet after meeting last week, decided that both heads of state should speak directly on the matter.
Expressing optimism that an agreement will be met soon, Minister Mustapha said the previous government had no interest in the resolution of payments to millers.

He explained that there were two contracts with Panama, one in 2018 and another in 2019.
“In the 2018 contract only a part payment was received and the second contract in 2019, not a cent was received; so the additional funds from the first, along with the last, are owed to the millers,” he explained.
Underscoring that the Foreign Affairs Ministry also dispatched a note to Panama to address the issue, the agriculture minister said Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud is following up the matter.

“Our President will be speaking shortly with his counterpart in Panama to get the matter resolved and I am very optimistic,” Minister Mustapha said.
He said government is also hoping that the deal can be resuscitated, but the immediate priority is settlement of the outstanding payments.
Further, he said government will be looking at the Caribbean markets, especially those countries that have indicated their willingness to explore options.
Noting that rice production is expected to increase tremendously, Minister Mustapha said large-scale farmers have acknowledged that Mexico is interested in purchasing rice and that will be explored.

He said that value-added products will also be needed to boost the industry, contending that “If we don’t have value-added products there is no survival in the industry.”

Currently, he said rice cereals are being made and paddy husk is being used to generate energy, but what was lacking over the year was the sharing of knowledge with farmers on how they should add value to the supply chain.
For the past five year, Mustapha said there was no cohesive policy or aim to propel the ministry in a developmental pathway and direction.
“Agriculture is one of the major sectors in our country and we have to have certain clear objectives before we go there; as such, value-added products, diversification and modernisation is [sic] needed, in order to survive in the global market and economy,” the agriculture minister said.
The Panama rice market was secured under then Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy back in 2014.