Business

Locally grown pumpkin is somewhat different to the varieties cultivated elsewhere, the main visible difference being in the generally green and white exterior of the home-grown vegetable.

This week’s Stabroek Business Fruits and Vegetables Personality is Joodnauth Bissesar aka Cecil.

The Ministry of Education in Barbados has secured the support of a number of regional agencies in support of the rolling out in the island’s upcoming 2021-22 academic year of a School Nutrition Policy designed to support the nutritional needs of schoolchildren in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member country.

Now that Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member countries Guyana and Suriname have joined Trinidad and Tobago as bona fide oil-producing countries in a region that has, over time, had its economies stifled by high global oil prices, all eyes are now on Jamaica which would now appear to be next in line for oil-producer status.

As the COVID-19 pandemic persists in its frightening rampage, loss of jobs, whether through temporary or longer-term displacement, have closed off income-earning avenues for several types of businesses, arguably, none more so, than Farmers’ Markets.

The need for the Caribbean to ensure the integrity of its key and critical internet and other communication infrastructure as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to make its presence felt in the various territories was one of the key currents of the discourses that attended the recent Fourth Annual Technology Community Forum hosted jointly by the Caribbean Network Operators Group (Carib.NOG)

The announcement a matter of days ago by the Dominican-born Director of  the Pan American Health Organisation Dr Carissa Etienne, that between them, Latin America and the Caribbean have now chalked up in excess of a million Covid-19 casualties, came just at that point in time when Caribbean countries, faced with some measure of indifference to strict observance of the related protocols as well as to the taking of the prescribed vaccines, had begun to double down on the strictures, not least curfews and complete lockdowns, in a desperate hope to fend off what is believed to be a second, possibly more virulent strain of the virus.

The continual development of communication technology and more particularly the spread of internet services into what were once considered inaccessible regions of many developing countries is breathing new life into rural and other remote areas and refashioning perspectives for global development, a new report issued by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and titled ‘Reconsidering Rural Development’ says.

Gold Prices for the three day period ending Thursday May 27, 2021 Kitco is a Canadian company that buys and sells precious metals such as gold, copper and silver.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 916’s trading results showed consideration of $88,432,883 from 1,106,256 shares traded in 17 transactions as compared to session 915’s trading results which showed consideration of $14,655,455 from 138,949 shares traded in 26 transactions.

In the course of the recent engagement between Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and Canada’s High Commissioner to Guyana Mark Berman during which – as reported in this issue of the Stabroek Business – the two talked up possibilities for the strengthening of relations between the two countries, Minister Mustapha, who is the serving Chairman of the Ministerial Task Force for advancing the agriculture agenda of the region, reportedly alluded to the current focus of the Task Force on producing a document on food security highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each member state, for submission to CARICOM Heads.

The March 2021 first shipment of crude oil from Guyana to a refining destination in India has triggered energetic speculation in the sector that, going forward, the global oil refining giant is positioning itself to become one of the country’s major long-term markets.

Even as the business sector continues to worry over the erratic economic climate that has persisted for more than a year now on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, the will to survive and, where possible, even to realise a modicum of growth is still evident in the outlook of small farmers and agro-processors across the country.

In the period ahead the Government of Guyana will probably have to make some key decisions concerning its relations with Taiwan and by extension, its long-standing diplomatic and, in more recent years, deepening economic ties with the People’s Republic of China.

There appears to be literally no end to the wide assortment of champion vegetables that are widely cultivated in Guyana and Ochro, Okra, Okro or ‘Ladies Fingers’ (the tongue-twisting scientific name for Okra is Albelmoschus Esculentus) rank high on the list.

New data generated by the World Bank indicates that private participation in infrastructure (PPI) in developing countries, including those in the Caribbean, has seen what it describes as a “very modest uptick” in the second half of the year against the backdrop of the advent of a COVID-19 pandemic that had been “widespread and swift.”

By Deodat Maharaj    A new economic turn Seismic shifts are taking place in the global economic architecture as countries accelerate efforts to transition to clean and green economies.

The Caribbean COVID-19 Tourism Task Force is pointing to what it says is a strong link between continued diligence and adherence to public health safety protocols in the Caribbean and the pace at which the region realises a return to normalcy in a tourism industry upon which the economies of several of the countries are heavily dependent.

This week’s Fruits & Vegetables personality is Parika, East Bank Essequibo resident and vendor, Rajwanti.