Press release 96/2005
(11 May 2005)

Honourable Secretary-General of CARICOM, Mr. Edwin Carrington, Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Guyana, Mr. Satyadeow Sawh Fellow Ministers of Member States, Colleague Ministers of Agriculture Senior Technical Officers of the Respective Caribbean Member States Members of the Media, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Afternoon.

It is indeed a pleasure and privilege for me to be here, and to be participating in my first meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development, as the Minister with responsibility for Agriculture, Land, and Marine Resources in Trinidad and Tobago. I wish to express my sincere thanks to the Government and people of Guyana for the tremendous hospitality afforded me since my arrival in Guyana. I really look forward to my stay here.

This, the Nineteenth Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) of CARICOM Member States,is certainly significant, if only because our deliberations over the next day and a half would focus on the critical issues confronting regional agricultural development at this time. This is even more so, in light of the major dynamics now operating in the global trade environment in which we collectively are seeking to formulate effective agricultural policies for the continued growth and development of our peoples, our countries and the Region as a whole.

Today in agriculture, in the Region, we face many challenges: reform of our agricultural and trade policies and of our legislative, regulatory and institutional framework as we seek to adjust in the global environment. We must effectively address the operational and logistical issues, not to mention constraints of limited resources and the critical need for the rationalisation of their use. As Small Island Developing States (in the main), we shall indeed be tested to the limits in seeking to enhance the efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness of our agricultural-based enterprises.

Time is not on our side Honourable Colleagues. Our decisions today are critical if we are to realise substantial progress towards achieving the goals we've set for ourselves in the context of the Revised Treaty and the transformation of our regional agriculture sectors.

So, as we seek to pronounce on the critical issues impacting on the future development of the Region's agriculture, let us be ever mindful of the responsibilities we bear toward the Caribbean people in assuring them, as well as future generations, of the space (literally and figuratively), to see their aspirations fulfilled.

I wish us all a very productive meeting and I thank you for your attention.