- forum opens today in Georgetown
MINISTERS of Trade of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) today will discuss rising food prices at the 27th special meeting of COTED at the Le Meridien, Pegasus.

The ministerial Council for Trade and Economic Development will also focus on maximising agricultural production, ahead of the Regional Agriculture Investment Forum which Guyana will host on June 6 and 7 next.

The forum aims at promoting agriculture business as an area for good investment and facilitating match-making between potential investors and agriculture entrepreneurs and promoters.

CARICOM is also looking to find ways of jump-starting agricultural production and reducing the region’s food import bill expected to double from an estimated US$3 billion.

Jamaica’s Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton - Chair of COTED, and Guyana’s Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, will address today’s opening ceremony.

Regional Agriculture officials, after a full day of spirited and frank exchange of views on Monday, distilled the main issues to be put before their Ministers today, according to a statement from the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown.

The consensus among officials is that in the context of the current food scenario, today’s meeting will not be a routine meeting of Ministers responsible for agriculture.

Rather, the thrust will be that different, more aggressive measures are needed to build a sustainable foundation for the agriculture sector.

The officials and regional agricultural organisations expressed their concerns on a number of issues including the need for more public and private investment in the sector, the use of land in the Community, praedial larceny, crop insurance, transportation and trade within the Region.