– With Call for Stronger Partnership and Competitiveness

-by Celestine Chacon

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat is urging stronger partnerships between government, foreign investors and Guyana’s private sector to ensure that the benefits of the country’s growing oil and gas industry reach ordinary Guyanese.

He made the call today, while addressing the opening of the World Trade Center -Georgetown International Trade and Investment Conference.

Minister Bharrat pointed to Guyana’s oil production which has increased from a mere 80-thousand barrels per day in 2020 to more than 900-thousand barrels per day.

He noted, however, that the country’s achievements must also be measured by the number of Guyanese employed in the sector and the opportunities created for local businesses.

“We can easily say we are one of the fastest growing economy in the world. But then the ordinary man out there would say, how am I benefiting from it? How am I going to benefit from it? Am I part of what is happening today?” he explained.

Bharrat reported that approximately seven thousand Guyanese are employed in the oil and gas industry, while some 1,200 local businesses provide goods and services to the sector.

He pointed to farmers supplying produce for offshore operationsand credit the Local Content Act with helping Guyanese businesses gain access to the sector.

He, however, stressed that local companies must provide quality goods and services at competitive prices.

“The local content legislation was never designed to inculcate or encourage mediocrity in terms of the provision of goods and services at exorbitant prices. Rather, we say to our local private sector, be competitive. Be competitive not only locally, but regionally and internationally, both in quality and price,” he urged.
The minister also encouraged foreign investors to look beyond oil and gas, and see the potential of other sectors including agriculture, mining, forestry, construction and manufacturing.

The World Trade Center Georgetown International Trade and Investment Conference runs from October 19 to 23, marking the first anniversary of the centre’s official opening.