Mr Rimi, however, called for continued collaboration to address the gaps in the global trade ecosystem.
“I emphasised the uniqueness of our cocoa being the traditional species that has the best taste in chocolate and other related products,” he said.
“We have found that more than 200 hectares of cocoa and other cash crops plantations were destroyed by the inferno.”
Gold and cocoa export earnings, on the other hand, went up by 9.1 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.
A special adviser says the Cross River government is targeting economic diversification.
