Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Water is the next big commodity Guyana needs to take advantage of – Stanley Ming
By Nicholas Peters
Guyana should look at how it will position itself so that it can take advantage of the impending “water
Prominent Businessman, Stanley Ming
market” as water will be the next big commodity on the global market, says prominent businessman and retired politician Stanley Ming.
His statement was made at the presentation of a conceptual proposal to media operatives, entitled “An Overview of Options and Opportunities (O3) for National Development”. The proposal is a strategic plan composed by Ming, Supriya Singh, Dr Eric Phillips and Major General (retd) Joseph Singh. Ming believes, if implemented, the proposal can serve as a roadmap that will drastically transform the country’s economy and infrastructure for the better by 2030.
Ming was asked to provide further details of the term “water market”. The businessman cited the growing popularity of bottled water throughout the Caribbean in countries like Barbados, the Bahamas and St. Lucia.
He related that in those countries, the market has seen an increase in the importation of international brands, which makes substantial sales not only in the Caribbean but the rest of the world.
“Throughout the Caribbean, everyone is into this bottled water thing,” said Ming, “In these places, water is imported all the way from countries like France, with brands like Perrier. Now why can’t we in Guyana do the same thing for the rest of the Caribbean? We have water here that is the same quality as the water they import.”
Ming added that the key to the success of bottled water products, like Perrier, lies in how it is presented to the global market. He said that if Guyana were to invest in the “branding and marketing” of its own water products to the competitive global market, the country would see remarkable returns from it.
“Bottling water is the next big venture and Guyana needs to start looking at how it will approach this market,” said the business tycoon.
Moreover, the former Member of Parliament cited that Guyana needs to also look at advantageously positioning itself in exporting water on a large scale, to countries like the United States.
In the last few decades, states in the western US, like Nevada, Arizona, Texas and Southern California have been experiencing increased droughts. Reports published by the US Interior Department in 2011, stated that prominent river basins – the Colorado, Rio Grande and San Joaquin – could see decline as much as 8 percent to 14 percent in the coming decades.
Furthermore, according to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), continued population growth in these regions will see an increased strain on the already limited water supply. Future projections also suggest that demand in water will grow as rainfall and mountain snowpacks decrease as a result of Climate Change.
According to Ming the western US has already began rationing water supplies. As such, the entrepreneur predicts that within 10 years the US will need to import water in large quantities in order to supply demands.
“Latin America has 30 percent of the world’s fresh water. Within 10 years there will be tankards not fetching oil but fetching water to the United States West Coast,” said Ming. He also cited Caribbean states like Antigua and Barbuda as current viable export options since the island already imports all their water.
“We have to start looking at how we will position ourselves to take advantage of the water market of the future,” related Ming, “Just as the US and Australia are setting up for the rising demand of quinoa, we need to start setting up for water.”
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