Baroness Valerie Amos meets Grenada's PM
Prime Minister Keith Mitchell met with Baroness Valerie Amos, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and member of the House of Lords, Non-resident High Commissioner John Whyte and Resident British Commissioner Vic Wallis on November 20.
Discussions focussed on several issues, including developments in agriculture, tourism, knowledge enh-ancement and security.
When asked about the most promising developmental area for Grenada, Prime Minister Mitchell said he is most optimistic about agriculture given the diversified base of the sector, the move to processing secondary products, the introduction of irrigation and the production of organic bananas and other fruits.
The Prime Minister said the decision by the Government in 1995 to take steps that would reduce Grenada's dependence on traditional export markets for bananas, which was criticised at the time, has certainly paid off considering the global climate of free trade and reduced subsidies.
"Diversification into secondary products and organic fruits has given us a market niche we never had before," he said.
Prime Minister Mitchell noted that Grenada and other Caribbean countries require technical support for negotiations with the World Trade Organisation.
"We are still feeling marginalised in this respect. We need help at the bilateral level to empower us to help ourselves. I believe our people have the talent, the skills and the ability to determine our future, once we have the knowledge," Prime Minister Mitchell said.