We must focus on where the best opportunities exist — Jamil Changlee — Opinion

We must focus on where the best opportunities exist

September 18, 2026·4 min read

Published in

Kiskadee Watch ·Sep 18, 2026
Kaieteur News ·Sep 18, 2026

Dear Editor,

As Canada strengthens its partnership with the European Union, we too as a nation must also pursue a similar strategy to diversify and strengthen our trade partnerships. There is a strong presence of Guyanese in Canada, and our understanding of the culture is very strong. Europe has continued to be a dependable partner for our nation over the decades and their strength in environmental protection aligns well with our country’s ambitions.

Our exports to Canada continue to be dominated by the gold sector and we must establish strong trade agreements that enable other sectors of the economy to benefit. Similarly, trade between the EU and Guyana is strong, but this is due to our oil exports, and we must use this opportunity to increase exports from other sectors to continue to build the non-oil segment of the economy.

Our strong historical ties, proximity and the economic strength of these trading partners should make expanding trade opportunities with them a high priority for our government. There are also additional benefits from further integrating our development path with businesses from these two economic powerhouses. They have many capabilities that we should access, and we have resources that they do not. Achieving expansion in our trade with Canada and the European Union should be considered a task that can be accomplished within the current election cycle.

Trade with Canada excluding the mining sector sits in the mid-single digits and is driven primarily by our alcohol exports. Given their current trade war with the U.S. we have a great opportunity to further expand our alcohol exports to Canada. It will also provide a path to profitability for our sugar industry. (References: OEC and Trading Economics)^[1]. Trade between Guyana and Europe shows a decline in our exports and an increase in our imports in Agricultural Products (food including fish and raw materials) 2022 to 2025. (Reference: European Commission)^[2].

This is very concerning and given the inflationary pressures on food in the EU we should be able to present our country as an inexpensive alternative source for high-quality food for their integrated $23 Trillion economy (nominal GDP) of which agricultural products represent over $200 Billion in imports. (Reference: Eurostat).^[3] It should be noted that the import market for agricultural products ($230 Billion to $235 Billion) for the EU is larger than the size of Qatar’s economy which is currently experiencing contraction. (Reference: IMF).^[4]

Our neighbour Brazil already has the highest share of this opportunity at approximately 8.5%. (Reference: European Commission)^[2]. If Brazil can achieve this level of trade with the EU, Guyana should also be able to successfully grow our trade in agricultural products with them as well. CRG recommends focusing our efforts on developing our non-oil and non-mining sectors where the largest, most accessible, and most profitable opportunities exist.

Best regards,
Mr. Jamil Changlee
Chairman
The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana

References

Guyana (GUY) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners | The Observatory of Economic Complexity — oec.world ↩
Trade in value - Agriculture and rural development - European Commission — agriculture.ec.europa.eu ↩
Extra-EU trade in agricultural goods — ec.europa.eu ↩
Qatar: 2024 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Qatar in: IMF Staff Country Reports Volume 2025 Issue 047 (2025) — www.elibrary.imf.org ↩

Trade in value - Agriculture and rural development - European Commission

agriculture.ec.europa.eu · 2026-09-08

# Trade in value - Agriculture and rural development - European Commission Published: 2026-09-08T12:00:00+00:00 Source: agriculture.ec.europa.eu (agriculture.ec.europa.eu) Language: en ## Story Trade in value - Agriculture and rural development - European Commission # Trade in value Factsheets on EU countries agri-food trade with the world, individual countries and selected regions. ## Overview These factsheets provide a comprehensive illustration of EU agri-food trade across the world. The factsheets have been developed on the basis of individual countries, as well as for a number of selected regions. - 20 MAY 2025 Agri-food trade – details of the product categories used in the new presentation English (527.31 KB - PDF) Download - 7 MAY 2026 Agri-food trade statistical factsheet – Extra EU 27 English (230.21 KB - PDF) Download ## Countries Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Azerbaijan Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan Venezuela, Vietnam Yemen Zambia, Zimbabwe ## Regions - 7 MAY 2026 Agri-food trade statistical factsheet – Extra EU 27 English (230.21 KB - PDF) Download World Africa America Asia Pacific and Oceania Europe and Central Asia North Africa – Middle East - Arabian Peninsula Other groups of countries Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) – standard Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) – plus Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) - Everything but Arms (EBA)

Guyana (GUY) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners | The Observatory of Economic Complexity

oec.world · 2024-08-02

Guyana (GUY) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners | The Observatory of Economic Complexity Have questions, comments, or concerns? Send us an e-mail: support@oec.world

Extra-EU trade in agricultural goods

ec.europa.eu

In 2024, EU exports of agricultural products accounted for 9.1% of the total EU trade in goods while imports accounted for 8.0%. ... This article analyses data on trade in agricultural products, concentrating on exports and imports between the European Union (EU) and all countries outside the EU(extra-EU). In 2024, extra-EU trade in agricultural products accounted for 8.1% of the total extra-EU international trade in goods. The share of agricultural products in total exports (8.9%) was higher than in imports (7.2%). Data on trade in agricultural products is central for 2 important EU policies: the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the common trade policy, which manages trade relations with non-EU countries. ... surplus of €46 billion ... In 2024, the value of EU exports of agricultural goods to the EU rest of the world was €234 billion(see Figure 1). while imports from the rest of the world were (€195 billion) resulting in a trade surplus of €39 billion. In 2024, compared to 2023, EU exports of agricultural grew by 2.8% while imports grew by 6.7%. On a longer timescale, between 2014 and 2024, EU exports of agricultural had an average annual growth of 4.7% while imports grew by 4.8%. ... In 2024, the EU share of agricultural products in total exports was 9.1%, up 0.9 percentage points (pp) compared with 2014 (see Figure 2) while imports reached 8.0%, up 0.8 pp. Since 2014, the share for exports has been higher than for imports. This difference was largest in 2022, when it reached 2.4 pp. ... The EU exported 132 million tonnes of agricultural products in 2024, while it imported 158 million tonnes (see Figure 3). Between 2014 and 2024, the total trade volume had an average annual growth rate of 1.5%. Imports (2.2%) increased more than exports (0.7%). ... In 2024, the United Kingdom was the EU's largest export destination (€54.0 billion, 23%) of agricultural products and the second largest origin of EU imports (€16.6 billion, 9%), behind Brazil (€17.1 billion, 9%) - see Figures 11 and 12. ... EU data comes from Eurostat's COMEXT database. COMEXT is the Eurostat reference database for international trade in goods. It provides access not only to both recent and historical data from the EU Member States but also to statistics of a significant number of non-EU countries. International trade aggregated and detailed statistics disseminated from Eurostat website are compiled from COMEXT data according to a monthly process. Because COMEXT is updated on a daily basis, data published on the website may differ from data stored in COMEXT in case of recent revisions. ... EU data are compiled according to community guidelines and may, therefore, differ from national data published by Member States. Statistics on extra-EU trade are calculated as the sum of trade of each of the 27 EU Member States with countries outside the EU. In other words, the EU is considered as a single trading entity and trade flows are measured into and out of the area, but not within it. ... Trade values are expressed in millions (106) or in billions (109) of euros. They correspond to the statistical value, i.e. to the amount which would be invoiced in case of sale or purchase at the national border of the reporting country. It is called a FOB value (free on board) for exports and a CIF value (cost, insurance, freight) for imports. ... The EU is the largest partner in international trade of agricultural products. While the EU imports mostly simple unprocessed agricultural goods, exports from the European Union are principally processed food products.

Qatar: 2024 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Qatar in: IMF Staff Country Reports Volume 2025 Issue 047 (2025)

www.elibrary.imf.org · 2025-02-24

normalization after the 2 ... 22 FIFA World Cup continued with ... gradual rebound more ... Text Figure 2). ... 2 percent in ... 022 (where World Cup-related activities lifted non-hydrocarbon growth to 5.7 percent) to ... 2 percent in ... 23 ( ... non-hydrocarbon growth ... 1.1 percent as construction activities contracted and services growth moderated). ... with visitor arrivals ... in the expansion ... orders and employment ... project. The non-hydrocarbon output gap ... estimated to be close to zero. ... 8. Growth is expected to strengthen gradually in the near term and pick up more forcefully over the medium term. Real GDP growth is projected to improve to 2 percent in 2024–25, in line with staff’s nowcasting estimates (Text Figure 7 and Annex III), as nonhydrocarbon growth gradually increases, supported by public investment, spillovers from the ongoing LNG expansion project, and strong tourism. Monetary policy easing will likely accelerate domestic credit growth and bolster broader economic activities. Mediumterm growth is expected to accelerate (to an average of around 4¾ percent) on the back of massive North Field LNG production expansion (a cumulative increase of around 85 percent by 2030), and initial NDS3 reform gains. Headline inflation will likely ease to 1 percent in 2024, before converging to 2 percent over the medium term as monetary policy eases and growth strengthens. ... . The external and fiscal surpluses will likely remain, ... . Qatar’ ... twin surpluses, ... . The surpluses ... in percent of GDP), however, ... projected to moderate ... term as hydrocarbon prices are expected to soften. Central government debt ... 36 ... 029. Qatar is ... 10. Risks to the outlook are broadly balanced (Annex V). Main external downside risks include a sharper-than-expected global growth slowdown, increased volatility in global financial conditions and commodity prices, and further worsening of geopolitical tensions. The regional conflict has had limited impact on Qatar, but adds further to the downside risks with potential impact through lower tourism and capital inflows, and more volatile hydrocarbon prices. Domestic downside risk stems mainly from further weaknesses in the real estate sector, while the risk could be mitigated by the proper implementation of the measures introduced in 2023 to enhance transparency and regulation of real estate activities2 as well as strong tourism. Over the medium and long term, the expected significant expansion of global natural gas supply could exert downward price pressures, although Qatar’s low production cost and proven reliability could mitigate the impact (Text Figure 8).3 Other key downside risks include worsening climate stressors and a disorderly global energy transition. On the upside, sustained high hydrocarbon prices and accelerated NDS3 reforms would strengthen the outlook. However, if ambitious NDS3 initiatives lead to resource misallocation, both the public finance and growth prospect would be affected. ... 3 amid slower growth ... NHPB ... Hypothesis (PIH ... a benchmark to ... 4 budget envisages ... mostly in capital ... the fiscal outturn ... the overall expenditure cuts could ... , closer to ... 37. Qatar has a favorable economic outlook and continues to demonstrate resilience to external shocks. Recent indicators suggest that the post-World Cup growth normalization has bottomed out and the gradual rebound in economic activities is gaining momentum. The mediumterm outlook is more positive, driven by significant increases in LNG production and the anticipated benefits from NDS3 implementation. By maintaining prudent macroeconomic policies and accelerating reform efforts, Qatar can further solidify its resilience to shocks and prosperity.