SVG food producers can access 25,000 acres of land in Venezuela for joint investment

An agreement that would offer Vincentians access to 25,000 acres of lands in Venezuela for joint investment, was recently signed between this country and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

(FROM LEFT) Yván Gil, Foreign Minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Saboto Ceasar, Minister of Agriculture of St Vincent and the Grenadines

The Agroalba agreement between Venezuela and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is expected to “… create investment and growth opportunities for the entire Alba family”, a release issued from the Ministry of Agriculture of St Vincent and the Grenadines states.

The signing of the AgroAlba agreement between Venezuela and St Vincent and the Grenadines was promoted by the International Center for Productive Investment (CIIP) and AgroAlba and was attended by the Foreign Minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Yván Gil, the Secretary General of Alba-TCP, Jorge Arreaza, as well as the president of CIIP, Alex Saab, on behalf of the Venezuelan delegation.

“This agreement seeks to boost agricultural production to guarantee food sovereignty for the countries in the bloc,” the release also states.

It was signed by the Venezuelan Minister for Agriculture and Lands, Menry Fernández, and this country’s Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar.

Previously, the officials held a meeting that was also attended by the Executive Secretary of ALBA-TCP, Jorge Arreaza, and the Minister of People’s Power for Foreign Relations, Yván Gil.

According to the foreign minister, this Agricultural Cooperation Agreement between Venezuela and St Vincent and the Grenadines seeks to attract investors to the Bolivarian nation to allocate resources to rural development. He said the purpose is to improve the capabilities of Venezuelan soil with the aim of turning the country into a food exporting power.

“Come to Venezuela to invest in rural development, to invest in improving the capacity of our soil. To improve the capacity of our land and increase our yield to attract technology and so that we can gradually become a food exporter,” the release quoted Gil as saying.

For his part, minister Caesar welcoming the initiative said it is an “opportunity to produce food” in an affordable way and thus achieve “food sovereignty.”

“We are not here as guests but as people who are going to take action,” said Caesar.

“We are starting this project, which is extremely important because it is a living testimony of what President Hugo Chavez wanted. We have to work together within ALBA to ensure that we have productivity and that there is always trade between our countries,” Caesar added.

AgroAlba is said to be a transformative proposal for agro-food sovereignty and development within the framework of ALBA-TCP and Petrocaribe.

“Venezuela, with its rich geographic and climatic diversity, has immense agricultural and livestock potential. This project seeks to boost our agricultural sector, taking advantage of our productive lands and the talent of our farmers,” the release also states.

“This project is expected to begin with the allocation of 10 thousand hectares of productive land to companies from each participating country, allowing each nation to present its project in agricultural or livestock areas.

“These actions contribute to the construction of a Global South bloc that promotes the agro-food sovereignty of peoples and cooperation and joint development of the continent,” it noted as well.

“We now have more land with less natural disaster vulnerabilities such as volcanic eruptions and major hurricanes (resulting from climate change impacts) Minister Caesar concluded.