Basseterre, St. Kitts (April 02, 2007): As a result of the recent visit to Venezuela led by Prime Minister Honourable Dr. Denzil Douglas, a Venezuelan team led by Honourable Américo Mata, President in the Ministry of Popular Economy recently came to the Federation.
The Venezuelan team met with Minister responsible for Agriculture Honourable Cedric Liburd to investigate possible areas of collaboration in the Agriculture sector. Honourable Américo Mata noted specifically how the two countries could help each other. He said that Venezuela would be happy to benefit from the experience of St. Kitts in terms of the management of the sugar industry while his country would be willing to share knowledge on popular economy.
Minister Liburd followed up by giving the operations background of the former sugar industry, including the reason for its closure. He said it was necessary to cease the sugar industry chiefly because of the high production cost which had accumulated over the years. He added that a further reduction by 40 percent in the preferential treatment to the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries prompted the government to conclude that it was the appropriate time to terminate the sugar industry. .~~adz:Right~~
The Minister responsible for Agriculture further noted that the European Union's reduction in preferential treatment to the African Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP) by an additional 40 percent clenched the local government's decision to close the sugar industry. As such, it was decided to do so after the 2005 sugar crop.
The President in the Ministry of Popular Economy proposed that in order to facilitate the agricultural exchange, visits should be arranged between technical working groups in both countries. He said in that way individuals would be able to directly experience how the community and the government develop policies for training persons in order for them to be able to financially support themselves.
Minister Liburd responded that St. Kitts and Nevis was grateful for the offer noting that the experienced persons from the former sugar industry would be able to assist Venezuela with their industry while Venezuela's technical persons could offer assistance with the Federation's non-sugar agriculture.
