MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Miller anticipates more business with South America

Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce president and former Councillor Tim Miller last week visited Uruguay to re-establish business links and the long standing friendship with the city of Montevideo, which until three decades ago was the Islands main link to the rest of the world.

"As has always been with Uruguay, a very good friend of the Falklands, we believe in trade without restrictions, recognizing the reality of politics and that is why I've come to Montevideo", said Mr. Miller interviewed by MercoPress.

Mr. Miller who runs Stanley Growers and is the Falklands' main importer of fresh fruit, had a full agenda in Montevideo including visits to fresh produce markets, several farms, processing and packaging plants, cold storage facilities, supermarkets, other suppliers and local private business officials.

"My visit must be seen mainly in terms of the future for the Islands' fishing and tourism industries because although we have no direct links with Montevideo, there's a natural confluence of interests", pointed out Mr. Miller who underlined that the Chamber of Commerce's policy is to "increase trade between South America and the Falklands".

Mr. Miller recalled that a significant number of vessels which fish in Falklands' waters berth out of season in Montevideo and during summer most cruise tours include Uruguay and the Islands.

So in a globalized world "we're actually much closer and trade linked to Montevideo than thirty years ago when the long gone RMS Darwin was the main link to the outer world for Islanders".

Mr. Miller admits last visiting Montevideo in the early seventies, fresh from agriculture college in UK and returning to work in a farm in the Islands and eventually for a couple of years in Patagonia.

Now Tim runs Stanley Growers, the Islands' main fresh produce farm supplying several hydroponics grown types of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and other salad produce which have also put the Falklands in the cruise industry fresh suppliers map.

"Some of the small and mid size cruise vessels chefs enjoy coming to the greenhouse and choosing the fresh salad produce, which we then put into crates and have them sent straight onboard", said Tim.

"There's no other place in the world where these cruise vessels can have fresher produce than in Stanley".

Although the whole operation is hydroponics, production is environmental friendly with biological pest controls.

"This basically means we import "good" bugs from UK, and sometimes Chile, which attack or keep in line the "bad" bugs, and so avoiding the use of pesticides".

Stanley Growers farm covers an area of 14 hectares mostly open for field crops such as potatoes, cabbage, broccoli plus a half hectare heated and under plastic for the hydroponics.

However Tim also imports a full range of fresh produce not grown in the Falklands which are flown in from Santiago where he has his own resident buyer.

Tim recalls that not so long ago when fresh fruit was available so infrequently in the Falklands, "?. the sniff of a banana was enough to send people rushing to the shops. Now a banana has to be the right colour, shape and firmness or the customer won't even look at it".

And on weekends Stanley Growers has the garden sale. Islanders flock to the plant nursery in search of flowers, shrubs and the more daring farmers, forestry trees to plant and build shelters in the wind swept South Atlantic archipelago.

The Miller family traces their Falklands' roots back to the mid XIXth century and Tim is a clear example of the new entrepreneur spirit which has taken command over the Islands diversified economy since the early eighties.

As such Tim has been for the last three years president of the Chamber of Commerce which interacts with the Islands' government and has fluid contacts with its Punta Arenas counterpart and the Santiago Anglo-Chilean chamber.

"We act as the link between the private sector and government; we hold off the record meetings with senior government members and I modestly believe it has proved to be an efficient mechanism for the over seventy members of the chamber?and obviously for government also".

In Montevideo Tim met with Dr. Claudio Piacenza, CEO from the Uruguayan Chamber of Commerce and Services, the first step towards establishing a more formal link between both private sector organizations.

"Our motto is free trade, and has been since two centuries ago when an incipient Uruguay breaking away from the Spanish empire signed an agreement with the British ensuring the free navigability of seas and rivers to promote free trade", said Mr. Piacenza.

Tim described to Mr. Piacenza how dramatically the once sheep farming Falklands have changed in the last two decades having now a strong and diversified economy, closely linked to Montevideo and increasingly in contact with South America.

"Fishing, tourism, general supplies, eventually an oil industry if developed are areas that will bring us closer and closer to South America", said the Falklands chamber president.

Finally Tim pointed out that contrary to Santiago and Buenos Aires where the pace is hectic and the noise unbearable, "Montevideo has managed to keep its more provincial way of life", with people open, friendly and genuine. "It makes us feel relaxed and at home".