Small agro-processors form association

May 07, 2009 News

– Minister Prashad vows to help them develop

Minister Manniram Prashad at yesterday’s meeting with agro-processors. To his right are Industry Development Analyst, Sharon Alexander, and Suriya Delights proprietor, Subhaschand Pariag.

Small and medium-sized agro processors have formed themselves into an Association. Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manniram Prashad, commended the move by the agro-processors, saying that they will be able to take advantage of the many opportunities available for funding and capacity building.
He said that individually, the agro processors could find it difficult to access development assistance, but this can now be made possible. He was speaking at the first meeting of the Association held at the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce in Georgetown, yesterday.

Prashad said that while there is commendable production in the agri-sector, small and medium-sized agro processors have not been adding value to their products, and as a result they cannot compete against products which are smartly packaged and labeled.
In addition, he said that the association would help its members to also regulate pricing, since some persons can ‘price’ themselves out of the market.

Prashad also sought to encourage the businesses to take advantage of his Ministry’s Matching Grants Initiative (MGI), a component of the National Competitiveness Strategy (NCS).
The initiative aims to raise the competitiveness of private Guyanese firms, in particular small and medium enterprises, by enhancing their export capacity. The programme will provide eligible firms with small grants for export readiness assessment, project preparation and project implementation to prepare firms to export, to launch export initiatives and to expand export activities.
Under the National Competitiveness Strategy Unit, there is the Matching Grants Executing Unit, which is due to formally commence implementation of the MGI programme.

To this end, the Ministry will be launching this programme tomorrow at the International Conference Centre, Liliendaal. The Initiative is being funded in part by the Inter-American Development Bank.
The NCS falls under the Support for Competitiveness Programme (SCP) which received $501.5M in this year’s National Budget.
Further, there is an NCS Council which is chaired by President Jagdeo and includes members of government, the GO-Invest CEO and representatives from various private sector bodies, including the Private Sector Commission and labour unions.