Land conversion key for full EU sugar industry funding

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh (centre) looks on as European Union Ambassador Robert Kopecky signs the Financing Agreement. Also in photo is senior Finance Ministry official Tarachand Balgobin. (GINA photo)

Guyana yesterday signed a €23.355M ($6.3B) financing agreement for funding from the European Union (EU) to support the sugar industry and head of the EU Delegation Ambassador Robert Kopecky said one of the crucial requirements to ensure the full payout is the conversion of land for mechanisation.

“I hope that this will trigger the sustainability of the industry,” Ambassador Kopecky said after Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh signed the 2012 Financing Agreement for the Guyana Annual Action Programme on Accompanying Measures for Sugar Protocol Countries,