Speech by J. Smadja for the presentation of the Gourmet Coffee Project at the informal JAG, Wednesday 12 April 2000.
Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good morning and may I too welcome you to this informal session of the annual Joint Advisory Group meeting.
The first part of this morning will be devoted to a specific project which ITC’s Market Development Section has worked on for three years – the Gourmet Coffee Project.
Coffee is a commodity produced in more than 70 countries – ranging from small least developed countries to larger and more developed economies. The total export value has been in the magnitude of 10 billion US Dollars in recent years. For several countries in Africa, coffee export generates more than 50% of the foreign exchange earnings. It is estimated that more than 20 million people world-wide are directly engaged in coffee production and the coffee industry. It is an important commodity.
As mentioned on the first day of the JAG meeting by the representative of ICO - the International Coffee Organization, the ICO and ITC plan to sign a Memorandum of Understanding regarding future cooperation.
The signing is scheduled for ICO’s Annual Meeting in May in London.
Mr. Peter Walters, Director of the Division of Product and Market Development will introduce the topic of today’s first session.
The project itself will be presented by Mr. Bertil Byskov who is Chief of the Market Development Section and Mr. Morten Scholer who is the day-to-day coordinator of this project in ITC.
We are also fortunate to have with us here today, Mr. Caleb Dengue, Project Manager at the Common Fund for Commodities. This fund has provided the greater part of the financing for the Gourmet Coffee Project and Mr. Dengue has been invited to say a few words about this project, looked at from the donor’s perspective.
Finally a few practical details :
Following the presentations, there will be a chance to ask questions after which samples of coffees from the countries involved with this project will be served outside the room. There are also copies of press releases and articles on the tables in the back of the room. Please help yourself to this after the presentation.
I will now hand over to Mr. Peter Walters introducing the presentation.
