Over 1.6 million pounds of fruits and vegetables have been exported to Canada so far for this year, the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) has said.

This represents a 180% increase from last year during the same January to August period when 599, 379 pounds of fruits and vegetables were exported, the GMC said in a press release.

And according to General Manager Nizam Hassan, “this shows that measures put in place by the Ministry of Agriculture through the GMC are having a positive effect on the growth and development of Guyana.”

He added that the investment opportunities that exist in the agriculture sector are continuously being highlighted through active involvement in various regional and international trade fairs and other events. These serve to sensitise investors and potential investors to the extensive and lucrative agro-business investment opportunities that exist in Guyana.

Since January, several agro-business investors have visited Guyana to explore business opportunities in the non-traditional agriculture sector.
These include representatives from Barbados, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America.
At present, the GMC in collaboration with the Guyana Consulate in Toronto, Canada is organising an Agri-Business Investment Oppor-tunities Seminar and Mini Exhibition. This seminar and exhibition is scheduled for Friday, at the Elite Banquet Halls in Toronto Canada. Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud is expected to deliver the feature address at this event. He is scheduled to meet several investors and members of the Toronto business community.

Meanwhile, Hassan noted that several challenges still exist such as inadequate availability of air freight to various export markets and insufficient supply of produce locally, to meet the growing market demand. However, he said that efforts are being made by the Ministry of Agriculture and other parties to address the issue of adequate and readily available air cargo as soon as possible.