Given the changes currently taking place in the sugar sub-sector, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr. Christopher Tufton is forecasting a brighter outlook for the industry in the medium to long-term.
Dr. Tufton was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 72nd Annual Conference of the Jamaica Association of Sugar Technologists, held at the Sunset Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios recently.
He said that a number of positive initiatives had been implemented within the sector this year, chief among which were the establishment of two companies to streamline industry debt, and to improve the management of the estates so as to achieve the objective of self-sufficiency; the planting of over 2,500 acres of new cane; and the sale of two estates - thereby reducing the burden on the public purse.
“While the dynamics of the world sugar market are changing” he added, “There are still untapped trading opportunities for value-added products to be explored in the large and varied European market, through the Economic Partnership Agreement to which Jamaica is a signatory.” The Minister also pointed out that with the price of sugar now at an all-time high in Europe and other parts of the world, the time was right to expand our production.
Meanwhile, he emphasized that the industry could not become viable if it had to rely on taxpayers to continue to subsidize it. Nor could it be sustainable if it continued to rely on the production and sale of raw sugar only. "That mentality has to be abandoned and the sooner we do that the better," he stressed.
In order to address the challenges facing the industry in terms of the need to diversify into areas such as renewable energy, Dr. Tufton urged the group to assist the process, as it had to be driven by internationally benchmarked technologies.
The two-day Conference was held under the theme 'Jamaica's Sugar Cane Industry beyond 2009'.
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