THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is currently engaging stakeholders for the establishment of a factory to produce industrial grade white sugar, according to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sasenarine Singh, who told this newspaper that the entity, once up and running, could possibly serve the entire Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

“It makes sense,” Singh said in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Friday last.

He explained that such a facility could help to reduce the already high food importation bill for the CARICOM region which already imports at least 200,000 tonnes of white, industrial grade sugar to supply its beverage manufacturers and the food industries.

According to Singh, Guyana itself, “imports 20,000 tonnes of industrial grade white sugar for our beverage manufacturers to make the soft drinks and so.”

He reasoned that with the Common External Tariff (CET) already in place for CARICOM, Guyana stands to gain from lucrative sales arrangements with at least 14 other CARICOM member states.

“Because of the CET, which is 40 per cent, all white sugar coming from outside of the CARICOM region, it makes the entire idea of a white sugar plant a proposition worth considering, the GuySUCo CEO argued.

“They would love to buy it from Guyana because it would be cheaper,” Singh highlighted.

The CET is a single tariff rate which has been agreed to by all members of CARICOM in relation to the importation of products from outside of the region.
Singh hinted that such as facility could possibly be launched at Skeldon, East-Berbice, Corentyne.

He was quick to point out, however, that GuySuCo would not be pursuing such a venture on its own. “It has to be a public-private partnership,” Singh related.

As a matter of fact, the corporation has already issued an Expression of Interest for the white sugar plant. As a result, GuySuCo is currently in talks with at least 10 private sector companies that signalled their interest in being part of the project.

“Those conversations are happening,” Singh related.
It is unclear whether any of the consulted companies have given any concrete commitments towards the venture, but Singh reminded that even outside of a white sugar plant, the government, being the primary shareholder of GuySuCo, wants to encourage private investments in all areas of the sugar industry.

“We are trying to seek out public-private partnerships for some or even all of the estates.”

He said GuySuCo has commenced working with members of the local private sector “to understand if they have an appetite for sugar and energy-related projects that they could do with sugar estates that could protect investments and create value across the sugar belt.”

“GuySuCo is open for business,” Singh asserted, noting that the corporation would be delighted if “a private investor comes in and says ‘we are ready to build a sugar refinery, or we are ready to support the expansion of the agro energy facility, or we are ready to support the cultivation and the grinding of cane, or the export of white sugar to the Caribbean’.”

As part of its mission to restructure and become more self-sufficient, GuySuCo has crafted a five-year strategic plan which focuses heavily on diversification of crops and ownership of the corporation and its six estates.

It was only in January that the Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, emphasised the importance of the private sector in propelling both GuySuCo and the local sugar industry.

“With the plans we have for the sector and where we hope to take it, we are cognisant of the fact that government alone cannot fund the industry,” the minister had said.

The public-private partnership model has been heavily touted as best way to fully revitalise and revamp the ailing sugar industry, which was further affected by the ill-planned closures of four sugar estates.

In a study released recently, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) of the United Nations (UN) said that the closure of the estates at Wales, Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon was “bad from any perspective.”

In its recommendations, the report stressed the need for GuySuCo to diversify its operations and expand ownership. Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, had previously expressed the government’s commitment towards implementing the ILO’s recommendations wherever possible.

“The sugar industry still has an important contribution to make to Guyana. Our government is committed to the revitalisation and restructuring of the sugar industry to support a diversified and modernised sector so as to ensure its sustainability and economic viability,” Dr Singh had noted.

He pointed to the fact that government’s efforts to bring back the sugar industry can be reflected in the 2020 and 2021 national budgets, which saw GuySuCo benefitting from injections of $7 billion and $2 billion, respectively.

Added to that, a recently approved supplementary budget has allocated $1.5B to assist GuySuCo in recovering from the devastating floods, as well as repairs required for the reopening of three of the four sugar estates.