Prime Minister David Thompson opening the Foursquare Bottling Plant in St. Philip on Sunday. At his side is Minister of Trade, Industry and Commerce George Hutson. At left is chairman of R.L Seale and Company Sir David Seale, and his wife Lady Seale.

The European Union has continued to offer Caribbean distillers mega bucks for development of their rum industry.

That effort was highlighted over the weekend with the opening of a state-of-the-art bottling facility at the Foursquare Rum Factory in St. Philip.

Through its special Rum Programme, the European Union invested more than Barbados $2 million in the Foursquare facility, and according to Valeriano Diaz, head of the delegation of the European Commission to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, the EU will spend another euro 70 million to assist the sector in remaining competitive.

Because of the EU's assistance in building the facility, which amounted to 28 per cent of the total cost of the project, Foursquare is expected to save more than Bds $275 000 annually.

"The project (the Rum Programme) is only part of a wider spectrum of the EU support to the overall development of the Caribbean, and in particular, that of the region's private sector as regional countries strive to adapt their economies to a more competitive environment brought about by the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, the Free Trade Agreement and the Economic Partnership Agreement, and more generally, the accelerating process of globalisation," Diaz told guests at the facility's opening ceremony.

He said the recent EU-CARIFORUM EPA underscores the EU's confirmed commitment and involvement in the developmentin the Caribbean.

"Despite its focus on trade partnership for sustainable development and by extension poverty eradication, the development cooperation aspect is considered a crucial element and essential factor in this regard," Diaz added.

He concluded that the EU would eventually provide Euro 1.4 billion over the next seven years through grants to Caribbean private sector entities. (BA)