The Caribbean and Latin America and the People's Republic of China are set to embark on a new phase of enhanced cooperation in the field of agriculture.
This came as a result of the first Latin America and Caribbean-China meeting of Ministers of Agriculture which was held in Beijing, China, from Friday, June 7 to Sunday, June 9.
The Ministers adopted a declaration in which they pledged to deepen and expedite cooperation among their countries, making full use of scientific and technological developments as well as a US$50 million fund made available by the Chinese Government.
Speaking during the ministerial segment of the meeting, Barbados' Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management, Dr. David Estwick, noted that the ambitions of the meeting coincided: "with the plans of… government to reform the agricultural sector of Barbados, and to promote the sector for the 21st century that is modern, competitive and responds to the reality that our nation is one of the most food-insecure in the Caribbean region," he said.
Minister Estwick also told the meeting that Barbados was developing a project with the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies for a Centre for Food Security and Entrepreneurship. He added that the Centre aimed to promote research and training in sustainable food production and entrepreneurship in Barbados and the Caribbean in collaboration with international partners such as China.
