Brazil to assist Barbados in restructuring sugar industry

by Dawne Bennett
Caribbean Net News Barbados Correspondent

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Brazil will be assisting Barbados with the restructuring of its cane industry and using sugar cane as an alternate fuel source.

This is the news coming out of bilateral discussions between that country’s Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim and Dame Billie Miller who signed an agreement on cultural cooperation which will provide the framework for the implementation of joint activities, programmes and projects in the areas of mutual cultural interest.

Mr. Amorim has invited Barbados’ Agriculture Minister, Erskine Griffith to lead a technical delegation to his country to discuss the matter further. He says this could present a number of opportunities for Barbados’ agriculture sector.

“We all understand the need for modernization of the Barbadian structure in this field and I think the technology that we have developed and the experience also that Brazil has developed in the area of the use of ethanol as fuel can be of great importance,” he said.

“We are convinced, for instance, that with the Kyoto Protocol the demand for alcohol as fuel will increase very much and we are quite prepared to share the knowledge that we have accumulated not only on a strictly technical sense but also in the sense of business.”

The Brazilian Foreign Minister has also indicated that the two countries are looking at other areas of cooperation in agriculture beyond sugar and ethanol.

Meanwhile, Dame Billie indicated that officials from Barbados and Brazil have also begun negotiations on an Air Services Agreement to encourage the development of air transportation links between the two countries.

She says finance and tax officials have also held informal consultations that they hope will lead to the conclusion of a double taxation treaty in the near future and the opening up of significant new business opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs.

Among the other issues which were discussed were combating the scourge of HIV/AID and Brazil’s interest in strengthening its security cooperation with the Caribbean.

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