Agri-Investment forum to be held from June 9-10
- to be launched tomorrow

Georgetown, GINA, April 16, 2008

President Bharrat Jagdeo will be making a brief presentation at the official launching of the CARICOM Agriculture Investment Forum on April 18 at the CARICOM Secretariat at Turkeyen.
            The launching is a lead-up to the actual agriculture forum which will be hosted by Guyana’s President. It will be held on June 9 and 10 at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC).
            President Jagdeo at his April 15 press conference at the Office of the President said that the forum will bring together bankers and government officials who are interested in investing in agriculture.
            “I’m hosting a CARICOM conference here at our Convention Centre that will bring the people who want to invest in agriculture together with the bankers and the government officials to create opportunities, specific opportunities for specific projects, not just another conference to issue another declaration at the end, but to see how much business we can do. That’s the only way we’ll move forward.”
            The Jagdeo Initiative on Agriculture which has been welcomed by CARICOM leaders is expected to take the spotlight at the two-day forum in June.
            The Administration has been promoting the Jagdeo Initiative on Agriculture which many CARICOM countries recognize as the solution to the current food crisis.
            The vision of the Initiative is to:

• Make substantial progress to contribute significantly to national and regional development and social and environmental sustainability.
• Ensure a transparent regulatory framework at the national and regional levels that would promote and facilitate investments and would attract direct and indirect capital flows.
• Significantly transform processes and products and stimulate innovative entrepreneurial capacity of Caribbean Agriculture and Rural Communities.

           Guyana, like many other countries, has in recent times been experiencing an increase in prices for some commodities locally which is largely due to price increases on the world market.
  This global phenomenon has forced many governments to develop strategies that will ensure that consumers do not feel the full impact of the price increases.
This administration is advocating for the growth of more local produce which is significant for the sustainability of food supply in the regions and in dealing with the rising cost of food prices.

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