A TRADE mission of over 20 businesses in Guyana will represent the country at the world’s largest Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas next week.
The conference will be held from May 6-9, 2019 at the NRG Park and is the largest oil and gas offshore event attracting over 66,000 participants last year.

The local mission to the conference is aimed at enabling local businesses to showcase their offerings to overseas investors, therefore developing profitable partnerships.
The activity comes through collaboration between the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) representing the government and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI).

A press conference to brief the media on the country’s representation was hosted on Thursday at the Roraima Duke Lodge.

Present were GO-Invest Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Owen Verway and GCCI President, Nicholas Boyer.

Verway noted that the mission will focus on two primary activities which are a booth display with an area for business-to-business (B2B) meetings and a Guyana Night for Information Sharing and Business Networking.

The CEO said that the booth will be the largest that GO-Invest has ever had in any trade mission or expo accommodating the over 20 businesses as well as meeting tables for one-on-one B2B meetings.

The exhibition event will showcase thousands of businesses specialising in leading-edge technology for offshore drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection.
Guyana’s participation in OTC is being funded by private sector sponsorship along with approximately 20 percent funding from the Government of Guyana.

Tier One sponsors include Century Tamara Energy Services Incorporated (CTES);TOTALTEC and HFS Corporate Services Inc. while second tier sponsors are Ramps Logistics, Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Co Ltd (GTT); Machine Tech and Guyana Oil and Gas Support Services.

The Guyana Night will be hosted on May 8, 2019 and is being sponsored primarily by Exxon Mobil Corporation as well as the Government.

“It’s a great opportunity for the local community to be able to network and to do some amount of business development,” Verway said.
“This is a great opportunity for local content development from the perspective of businesses developing their knowledge and their capacity.”
He thanked the GCCI for bringing the idea to participate to the table and also thanked former Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin for being receptive to the idea and advancing it beyond its initial stage.

In his remarks to the media, Boyer stated that with the OTC being such a well-recognised and attended conference, it is important for Guyana, which is heading in to oil and gas production, to have representation.

The GCCI is one of the largest business advocacy bodies in the country with over 240 members.

The business which opted to participate were finalised by the GCCI based on whether they were members of a professional association.

The invitation was extended to all private sector organisations as well as the Bar Association of Guyana.

Boyer said that the intent to participate in the event came out of the GCCI’s Petroleum Sub-Committee which continuously works to increase opportunities for its members in the sector.

“One of the key things that we are aiming for on this mission is firstly education and, secondly, connection and networking. The underpinning of these two is to promote local content. For us to have local content in this industry we must engage with companies who have experience and resources, whether its equipment or experienced personnel. We need those resources and we need to learn from those companies,” he said.

The GCCI President also thanked the United States (US) Embassy for its coordinating efforts which helped set up some of the B2B meetings to take place.

The businesses participating in the mission include: Roraima Airways; A&S Enterprises Ltd.; Dapper Technology; Guyana Oil and Gas Support Services; Guyana Oil and Gas Support Chambers; Environmental Management Consultancy; Sterling Products Ltd.; Guyana National Industrial Company; Fohrsight Global Consultants Inc.; Hughes, Field and Stoby; Ramson & Conway & Associates; Guyana National Shipping Corporation; Laparkan Trading; JAPARTS; Rid-O-Pes/Sandip Disposal; Omni Helicopters International; Guyana Logistics and Support Services Inc.; Massiah Capital; IEM Sales & Services Ltd.; New GPC; Action Invest; Ramps Logistics; Tagman Media; Western Logistics; GTT; Merchant Marine Services Guyana Inc. and CTES.

The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana Energy Department will also be represented at the event.

Boyer said: “I think these companies have taken a bold step in being pioneers to attend this event in a meaningful way and to start to build that connection between Houston and Georgetown not just with the operator and the Tier 1contractors but the businesses that provide services to those large companies of Houston which are now [attempting] to figure out how to provide those services in Georgetown with local partners.”