On 13 September 2011, seminar on agriculture and fishery cooperation of the 3rd China-Caribbean economic and trade cooperation forum was held in Port of Spain, capital of Trinidad and Tobago. There were more than 160 representatives from ministries of agriculture, agricultural research institutes and business of China, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago as well as Caribbean Development Bank. Niu Dun, Chinese Vice Minister of Agriculture, headed the Chinese delegation, and gave a speech at the forum.
In his speech, Niu briefed the forum on China’s agricultural development, highly appreciated the recent progress in China-Caribbean agriculture and fishery cooperation, explored potential opportunities, and put forward suggestions on strengthening the efforts.
Niu noted that since the first China-Caribbean economic and trade cooperation forum was held in 2005, cooperation between China and Caribbean countries has been much closer. At present, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Agriculture Cooperation with its counterparts from Cuba, Barbados, and the Bahamas respectively, and the Minutes on Further Bilateral Agricultural Cooperation with Suriname. The Agriculture Cooperation MOU between China and Jamaica is under discussion. Besides, China has conducted a series of agricultural technical training courses for Caribbean countries, and more than 40 trainees have attend these courses; and more than 10 agricultural experts have been dispatched to these countries. China National Fishery Corporation has also worked with Surinamese Marine Fishing Corporation in fishing operations.
Niu emphasized that there would be great potential for China-Caribbean cooperation, and under the principle of complementary strengths and win-win cooperation, China would work with Caribbean countries to strengthen agriculture and fishery cooperation. He made four suggestions: first, sign the China-Caribbean Joint Declaration on Agriculture and Fishery Cooperation, and establish the China-Caribbean Working Group on Agriculture and Fishery Cooperation to regulate the cooperation; second, conduct agricultural trade and cooperation for investment in agriculture and fisheries to improve the exploration of these resources; third, enhance the cooperation in improvement of agricultural human resources; and fourth, strengthen cooperation in agricultural science, technology, and R&D to improve the production capacity of agriculture and fisheries.
At the seminar, ministries of agriculture from 11 countries signed China-Caribbean Joint Declaration on Agriculture and Fishery Cooperation. They agreed the establishment of China-Caribbean Working Group on Agriculture and Fishery Cooperation to build a platform for China and Caribbean countries for cooperation in agricultural trade, investment in agriculture and fisheries, capacity building of agricultural human resources, agricultural science, technology and R&D. Representatives all agreed that the Declaration is of historical significance, and it would further deepen China-Caribbean agricultural cooperation.