News Date: June 23 2016
Rice has been making up the bulk of Guyana’s exports to Brazil under a preferential trade agreement mainly, the Foreign Relations Sectoral committee was told Thursday.
Briefing the committee under the chairmanship of opposition People’s Progressive Party Civic’s (PPP), Gail Teixeira, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Guyana, Carl Greenidge said since the Rupununi-based Santa Fe mega-farm, owned by Sir Kyffin Simpson and family of Barbados, began exporting rice to Brazil, that grain has been Guyana’s major export to the neighbouring South American country.
“The main factor contributing to that jump…in this case the increase in Guyana’s exports to Brazil seem to be accounted for by the exports by Simpson’s Santa Fe Farm as well as Guyana Rice Development Board and Pak and Sons exports of rice to Brazil,” Greenidge said.
Figures presented to the sectoral committee show that Guyana sold GYD$1.8 billion worth of rice to Brazil in 2015 and GYD$264 million up to June, 2016.
Trade Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sherwyn Naughton said that so far all of Guyana’s exports to Brazil for this year have been been rice, and of the GYD$1.881 billion worth of exports to Brazil in 2015, GYD$1.842 was for rice. Naughton said other exports to Brazil included wheat, pasta, alcohol, bauxite, textiles and wooden furniture. “They are in very small quantities so rice has been the major export to the Brazilian market making up ninety percent or more of the exports,” he said.
News Source: Demarara Waves
