THE legislation pertaining to the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), now termed the Natural Resources Fund (NRF) is almost ready for submission to Cabinet.

This is according to Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman who told the media during a press briefing on Thursday that the bill is currently at the Ministry of Finance and according to him, he has shared his input.

Guyana has been receiving economic advice from the Oceans and Natural Resources Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat on the drafting of laws and establishment of the institutions and fiscal rules for the SWF.

This year too, against the backdrop of Guyana being accepted as a candidate of the globally accepted Extractive Industries Transparency initiative (EITI), the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) plans to commence work on its 2017/18 work plan. Minister Trotman said on Thursday that the activities include review of the regulatory framework, stakeholder- engagement, and public debates and communication.

He said the EITI secretariat will be fully operationalised in 2018 and the authorities will begin finalising the ToR (terms of reference) for hiring of the independent administration for compiling the first report of the body. Meanwhile, the MNR has received feedback on how to improve the draft local content policy framework.

Minister Trotman said he has received from the experts, the latest draft of the document and according to him, it will be sent to various stakeholders, with the intent of being finalised within the first quarter of this year.