Guyana wood, high demand for sugar in the UK

GUYANA sugar and wood species are in high demand in the United Kingdom, the Department of Foreign Trade has reported. Local exporters are being encouraged to explore value-added production to capitalize on that demand and take advantage of Guyana’s preferential access under the CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
The call came from Dr. Diana Glasgow, Department Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, during the second trade talk between the ministry and the Private Sector Commission (PSC). The virtual discussion focused on EPA CARIFORUM-UK and gave the private sector vital trade features for the UK and assessed its implications for continued trade with that country.

Dr. Glasgow that the United Kingdom is one of Guyana’s key trading partners, accounting for about four per cent of this country’s exports. Guyana exported approximately US $ 13 million worth of goods to the UK in the third quarter of last year. Main exports included rice, sugar, molasses and honey, alcoholic beverages, wood and gold. These five products accounted for 98.7 percent of Guyana’s total exports to the UK. Sugar led at 32 percent, alcoholic beverages at 25. 5 percent, rice 24. 2 percent, gold 9.38 percent and wood at 7.4 percent.
However, Dr Glasgow said there are many areas that Guyana could take advantage of in the UK market, given their requirements.

“Some of the products they are currently demanding from Guyana include wood, rum, sugar. There is scope for us to explore value-added activities in these areas and to take further advantage of the preferential access given to us under the agreement, ”he said. The European Union and CARIFORUM countries signed the EPA in 2008. The comprehensive agreement provided the basis for trade with the United Kingdom and other European countries. Following the UK referendum to leave the EU, the UK and CARIFORUM began rolling the terms of the CARIFORUM / EU agreement into the CARIFORUM-UK EPA, signed by Guyana in March 2019 and ratified by a Ministerial Order in December 2020. . Another Glasgow mechanisms allow Guyana and the UK to cooperate and support each other economically. The UK-Caribbean forum is a mechanism that promotes dialogue and interaction between the Caribbean and the United Kingdom. Caribbean Cooperation UK is a £ 300 million investment in vital new Caribbean infrastructure, including roads, bridges and ports to help drive economic growth and development. (DPI)

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