GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):
THE GUYANA government has formally handed over the country's sugar action plan to the European Union in a bid to secure funding for the restructuring of the local sugar industry.
"The EU must provide adequate, ring-fenced and front-loaded financial resources, to allow us to offset the impact of the price cuts on our economy in a timely manner and to adjust to the reform process through the restructuring of the sugar sector and diversification into other sectors where appropriate," said Foreign Trade and International Cooperation Minister, Clement Rohee.
'GUYANA SUGAR ACTION PLAN'
Rohee presented the 'Guyana Sugar Action Plan' to the European Commission's representative in Guyana, Ambassador Per Eklund, on Thursday in the presence of British High Commissioner Stephen Hiscock and representatives of Britain's Department for International Development (DFID).
Rohee said the DIFID had provided much-needed technical support to create the plan in the context of the EU's regulation establishing accompanying measures for Sugar Protocol countries affected by the reform of the EU sugar regime.
" We are convinced that sugar does indeed have a future in Guyana, for we have the potential to be the major supplier of sugar to CARICOM in the context of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) and in addition, the major supplier of sugar from CARICOM to the EU," Rohee said.
