–Minister Mustapha tells Trinidad and Tobago investors

EVEN with Guyana having a robust plan to ensure that locals benefit from development across every sector within the country’s economy, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, has assured Trinidad and Tobago investors that there is still plenty of room for business, investment and trade.

He made this announcement during an address at the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce’s “Opportunities for Doing Business in Guyana” stakeholders’ meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

While on a two-day visit to the twin-island republic, Minister Mustapha met with several Guyanese-born businessmen and women and gave them a glimpse of some of the investment opportunities in the agriculture sector here in Guyana.

Since being elected to office, the government has been adamant about engaging and encouraging Guyanese living overseas to play their part in the country’s development by returning home and investing in the economy.

During his address, Minister Mustapha told those in attendance that the growth of Guyana’s economy provides plenty of opportunities for business, investment and trade. He also said that the government was aggressively working on creating an environment conducive to the growth and development of the country.

“And as such we invite you to explore the opportunities for doing business in Guyana and invest in not just transforming Guyana’s agri-food system, but the CARICOM region’s agri-food system, as Guyana plays a major role in providing food to the Region,” Minister Mustapha said.

While discussing some possible areas for investment in the agriculture sector, the minister said that the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors are expected to expand by some 8.9 per cent this year.

Minister Mustapha also noted that Guyana has seen heightened consumer preferences as a direct result of the influx of expatriates to serve oil and gas and auxiliary sectors. This, he added, has led to an increased demand for processed foods with greater domestic value-added.

“In light of the increasing demand for food, there is a high potential for future growth in the downstream components of the food value chain particularly processing, wholesaling, retailing and logistics.

“The Government of Guyana recognises the importance of partnering with the private sector to improve and develop our food systems. As a result, the Government of Guyana has facilitated and created an environment that supports investments across all sectors,” Minister Mustapha said.

He added that there are opportunities that would guarantee favourable returns in both the traditional and non-traditional agriculture sectors.

“More specifically, in the traditional and non-traditional sectors, there are many investment opportunities. For example in the rice sector, opportunities exist for rice production in Region Nine, where vast Savannah lands are available. There are also areas for investment for the downstream processing of rice into different kinds of pasta, noodles, cereals, snack foods, etc…

“For corn and soya beans, the soil in Guyana’s immediate savannah has adequate soil and climatological conditions for the implementation of large-scale grain farming for these crops to about 85,000 acres. There are also areas for investment in the poultry, beef, swine, and small ruminant production sector. Agro-processing and aquaculture are also two subsectors with great promise that would guarantee tremendous returns on your investment,” Minister Mustapha said.