President Irfaan Ali announced yesterday that Guyana and India are poised to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will advance cooperation in agriculture between the two nations.
During a press conference at State House, Ali said the agreement would allow India to assess the profitability of the coconut, rice, dairy and sugar, and other crops industries.
“They are willing to provide experts to come and work with us, as well as the technology and equipment to support and improve efficiency, yield and profitability,” the Head of State said.
He also pointed to a MoU signing following an engagement with the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre, which will see the deployment of all the technologies, that have been tested and successful to help develop the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) and the agriculture sector in Guyana.
The country is expected to benefit from the Indian company’s expertise in the important areas of agriculture, biotechnology for food and nutrition and environmental biotechnology.
He added that there was also “tremendous interest” in having close collaboration with Guyana’s agri-food system, the ecosystem surrounding our food production and agriculture, and enhancing the productivity of our agriculture sector, focusing heavily on sugar.”
Ali said the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) was a main area of focus during his 7-day visit to the South Asian nation, adding that aquaculture is another area that has tremendous opportunities for support to ensure increased production.
President Ali said that Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, will lead a delegation to India next month to follow up on the foregoing matters.
