— with ‘first-oil’ expected in 2020, says oil and gas expert

GUYANA is being advised to either strengthen existing skills training institutes or establish a large-scale national technical institute to prepare its people to benefit from an expected increase of job opportunities in the service sector.

With 2020 earmarked as ‘first-oil’ for Guyana and with substantial growth expected for the economy within the next five years, many experts have long projected significant growth in the service sectors.

There are currently several technical and skills training institutes dotted across Guyana, but what Local Content Consultant on Oil and Gas and Mining, Rene Roger Tissot recommended surpasses what now exists.

The economist, also an energy analyst, has worked for years in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Canada.

He spoke with the Guyana Chronicle on the topic while attending the 15th annual Institute of the Americas’ pre-La Jolla conference workshop hosted in San Diego, last week.
“What Guyana absolutely needs, like any developing country, is a national technical institute. Not for oil,” Tissot said, but “for everything.”

He stated that other countries on the continent have done the same, such as Colombia, preparing themselves to benefit from a similar projected job increase in the sector.
“The idea is to develop the skills because oil itself is not wealth. What Guyana needs to do right now is to think about how they are going to transform oil wealth — which will be received in financial wealth or money– into another form of wealth. That other form of wealth is human capital or investiture, but human capital is perhaps the most important right now,” he advised.

Tissot said that instead of creating various tailored and small programmes or even small institutes across the country, a sizable institution is needed to cater for all forms of jobs across the service sector.

Jobs in the service sector can fall in the category of information sector services, securities and other investment services, professional, warehousing and truck transportation services, health care and social assistance services, arts and entertainment, technical and scientific services, waste management services and recreation services.

ACCESSIBLE AND AFFORDABLE
The consultant told this publication that, preferably, such a multi-service training institution should be managed by the government, while ensuing that it is accessible and affordable for all members of the public.

It would also target persons unable to, or uninterested in attending university, exposing them to a viable skill which can guarantee financial income.

“Barmen in hotels, massage therapists, hair dressers, whatever makes sense. If you build that, then what you’re doing is transforming the oil wealth into the capacity of your workforce to work in whatever sector there is,” Tissot explained.
“The reality is, oil business is not going to generate that many jobs. That’s something that needs to be very clearly understood, especially [regarding] offshore oil which does not generate that many jobs,” he said.

This resolve is what caused the expert to also recommend that Guyana ensure that its National Development Plan – perhaps one which stretches to 2040—includes the country’s plans for skills training, based on the expected economic activities.

“It’s now you need to develop that,” he said, adding: “Right now, you need to think about what type of post-oil economy you want to develop and the most important thing is to develop technical skills, because that’s what is going to be in most demand.”

Tissot said it is regrettable that in some developing oil-rich countries, these skills-related jobs have been snatched away by non-nationals who meet the need.

He reasoned that even if the government is of the opinion that provisions are already in place to cater for such large-scale training, efforts should still be geared towards making such systems stronger, and as soon as possible.

He recommended that, as revenues flow, the financial capabilities of such an institution/ institutions be fortified through the more readily available finances.

“If you train your people, not only will they have skills to get a job, but also they will have the skills to perhaps start their own businesses. It’s not going to be a solution for every problem, but it’s going to be a necessary first step. If you don’t have the skills for your people to be able to work on any type of activity, the development is much more complicated and it doesn’t matter how much money you receive from oil,” the consultant said.