The president of the Association of Banana Exporters (AEBE), Eduardo Ledesma, proposed reducing the Single Tax on bananas because, as he pointed out, it had a negative effect on the Ecuadorian fruit's competitiveness. Ledesma made his proposal in a meeting of the Consultative Council of Bananas, which was held on Thursday, and in which the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Xavier Lazo, and the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade and Investment, Pablo Campana, were present.
According to data from the SRI, of the different agricultural sectors, the banana sector has the highest tax participation with 3.1%.
Ledesma also spoke about the need to expand the sowing base and to implement the use of electricity instead of diesel in the different processes of the industry. He said that bananas were a unique product that boosted the economy, as they generated value on a weekly basis that ended in different productive sectors, such as plastic and cardboard.
The Minister of Agriculture spoke about other issues, such as the control and prevention of Fusarium race 4 (a lethal disease for bananas); working on a draft Musaceae Law that promotes the sector, granting producers new specialized credit products through BanEcuador and the National Financial Corporation, and monitoring banana exports to Brazil.
Meanwhile, Minister Campana agreed that it was necessary to increase exports, as well as to attract investments.
"Last year our exports grew by 5.5 points, which meant $ 600 million for the country, and we achieved $1.150 billion in investment," stated the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade and Investment.
In 2017 Ecuador produced a total of 6,282,105 tons of banana in 178 thousand hectares, and according to the Ministry of Productivity and Foreign Trade, up to October of last year, the country exported a total of 5,410 tons worth $ 2.554 billion dollars.
