Latest update February 6th, 2025 7:27 AM
Govt. courting Middle Eastern group for agricultural investment
Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Finance disclosed yesterday that it hosted a meeting with senior officials attached to Elite Agro LLC, one of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) leading companies in the growing, sourcing, importing and marketing of agricultural products.
The meeting was held with Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh and Chandra Pratap Singh, Business Development Director and Emil Moukarzel, Chief Operating Officer (CEO) of Elite Agro LLC.
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh along with other government and private sector officials during discussions with representatives from Elite Agro LLC
The engagement served as a follow-up to earlier meetings held between President, Irfaan Ali, and officials of Elite Agro LLC.
It also forms part of the President’s implementation strategy for the diversification of Guyana’s non-oil sector.
During the meeting, Minister Singh explained to the officials of Elite Agro LLC that traditionally, agriculture has been an extremely important anchor in Guyana’s economy while adding, that it is the government’s intention to ensure it remains an important anchor in the non-oil economy. He also indicated that with Guyana looking to expand its agricultural sector there are currently, two big streams of opportunities available to Elite Agro LLC, either to be a direct investor or to facilitate trade in agricultural commodities to other export destinations.
“Guyana has vast expanses of very rich and fertile land for agriculture. We have been for a long time a large-scale producer for specific agricultural crops such as sugar and rice, but we are now exporting a number of other commodities which are ready for large-scale cultivation, and other crops that are poised for rapid expansion as well. We also produce a wide selection of livestock and meat for consumption,” Dr. Singh pointed out.
Wrapping up the meeting, Minister Singh indicated that his Government alongside the private sector is aggressively pursuing investment as quickly as possible, as this will aid in expansion of Guyana’s economy as well as facilitate job-creation.
“We are a very stable environment, both politically and economically. Guyana is now a place where we are having conversations with all of the big companies of the world (and not just in agriculture) and this is a signal of how attractive we are for investment,” the Finance Minister concluded.
Accompanying the Finance Minister at the meeting were Ministers of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, Tourism Industry and Commerce Minister, Oneidge Walrond and Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Paul Cheong.
Other private sector representatives included David Fernandes—head of a consortium dealing with the expansion of corn and soya-bean production in Guyana.
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