/ 17 July 1999

GHANA, IVORY COAST IN COCOA DEAL

IVORY Coast and Ghana, the world’s two top cocoa producers, have agreed to “optimise” production to help cushion the effects of a steady drop in world price of the cash crop, officials said in Abidjan on Thursday. At a meeting on Wednesday, agricultural and commercial trade ministers from the two countries vowed to “optimise their production volume in relation to world demand”, according to a statement. The two countries also decided to form ministerial and technical committees to harmonise policies on production and marketing. In Wednesday’s meeting, Ivorian minister for Agriculture and Animal Resources Lambert Kouassi Konan said economic globalisation requires a global coordination of policies. Kouassi Konan said “security nets” should be set up for both countries in light of liberalisation measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.