-But stakeholders say event served its purpose

THE Guyana International Petroleum Summit and Exhibition (GIPEX) recorded its largest turnout and participation yet, but the organisers of the event have agreed to place more consideration into the booth pricing for the event.

The event, which was the second of its kind in Guyana, was organised by UK-based Valiant Business Media in collaboration with the Department of Energy and the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest).

This year, there were 250 companies but some of the stakeholders believe that the event could attract more start-up companies if the booth prices are reviewed.

Managing Director of Valiant Business Media, Shariq AbdulHai said more consideration will be placed into the pricing for the booths, especially for start-up companies. The arrangement this year was for start-up companies to pay a specially reduced group rate of US$1,500 per booth space, shared by three companies, which amounts to just US$500 per company.

AbdulHai, during his remarks at a press briefing at the end of the event on Friday, said the price was fair for an event of that magnitude but did not refuse to put more thought into the pricing for booths going forward.

“Some arrangements were made to facilitate reasonable pricing for local companies but last minute attendance confirmation and non-availability of space affected the planning,” said the organiser.

Despite the willingness to review the prices, the organiser said the event was definitely bigger when compared to last year. Last year there were almost 70 exhibiting companies and that number more than doubled this year.

“Everyone realised the importance of this event…not only for the oil and gas sector but generally for Guyana,” said AbdulHai. The conference attracted many investors from the oil and gas sector but there was also participation from other sectors. The idea of the mixture was to create synergies and promote partnerships.

AbdulHai believes that the event, which saw an investment of about US$500,000 from Valiant Media, served its purpose of allowing companies to network and form partnerships.
Director of the Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe also believes that the event was fruitful and served to foster cooperation between foreign and local companies. “A number of regional and international companies also sought to get an understanding of government’s plan with regards to upstream, midstream and downstream activities within this particular sector and how they could assist in all areas of the value chain,” said Dr. Bynoe.

Based on the interactions and conversations, the director said GIPEX served its purpose of exposing Guyana to foreign investors and even creating a foundation for local businesses to elevate themselves in the budding oil and gas sector. “We hope that the discussions we would have had both with the private and governmental sectors, that Guyana can see itself enhancing its capacity, raising its standard and broadening its investment portfolio as we seek to encourage greater foreign direct investment,” said Dr. Bynoe.

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce (GCCI) was also credited for playing a major role in making a connection between the foreign investors and the locals.

“We thought it important to make the conference accessible to locals who are now learning about the industry and seeking ways in which they can get involved in the industry,” said President of GCCI, Nicholas Boyer.