Guyana, Brazil pursuing greater collaboration on agriculture, food security

Guyana and neighbouring Brazil are aggressively working to fully operationalise their Agreement on Cooperation and Facilitation of Investment (CFI), to open more doors to economic ties.

The approach comes at a time when the two South America nations plan to pursue greater collaboration in the area of agriculture and food security.

His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro, held intense discussion on the matter, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) on Friday, during President Bolsonaro’s one- day official visit.

The two Presidents, among other things, underscored the importance of expanding and diversifying agricultural trade, through information sharing and best practices.

“We had the opportunity to further deliberate and concretise action plan moving forward, [one being] food security, not only from a Guyana- Brazil perspective, but a Caricom perspective,” President Ali told reporters following the meeting.

The Heads of State want to ensure that their respective countries play an integral part in the region’s move to reduce the billion dollars food import bill by 25 per cent come 2025.

The signing of the CFI agreement between Guyana and Brazil late 2021, will provide a framework for cooperation and support to investors from both countries.

A number of mechanisms for risk mitigation and prevention of disputes, among other instruments will be agreed on by the countries.

The agreement will also create and maintain favourable conditions for investors, bringing a wide-range of mutual benefits.

President Ali believes that the establishment of a deep-water port in Guyana, could have a beneficial impact on the development of trade, even beyond Guyana and Brazil.

The possibility of a complementary rail link between the two countries was also highlighted.

Additionally, the Presidents acknowledged the important role that the border communities of Guyana and Brazil play in the development of the two countries’ relations.

To this end, they agreed to ensure that the understanding aimed at addressing issues specific to those communities on trade and consular cooperation, would be fully and effectively implemented.

Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has been working assiduously to diversify the industry, ensuring it remains viable. Already, Guyana’s food sector has seen major investment despite minor challenges to date.