Agricultural sector seeks China aid

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados—Caribbean countries are looking to China to help develop their agricultural sector and are seeking to take advantage of a US$50 million fund established by Beijing. Caribbean agriculture ministers joined their counterparts from Latin America and China for two days of talks this week, and according to an official statement issued here, they have 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”. The meeting was held under the theme “Mutually beneficial cooperation and win-win development”. Barbados Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management Minister, 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”.