…as consultation on Local Content Policy wraps up

WITH the rise of a lucrative petroleum sector, many Guyanese are worried that limited access to financing, coupled with inadequate opportunities for capacity building will hinder their efforts to compete against international players. These were among the concerns registered during the latest round of consultation on the government’s Draft Local Content Policy, hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The three-week “strategic engagement” attracted in excess of 180 public and private sector players, who are either directly or indirectly involved in the growth and development of Guyana’s hydrocarbon sector.
Coordinator of the consultations, Bobby Gossai Jr. explained that the issues raised were being taken seriously and efforts will be made to fill the gaps, wherever they exist.

As it relates to access to financing and capital, Gossai told the Guyana Chronicle that authorities plan to engage a number of financial banking and non-banking institutions to ensure that convenient systems are in place for Guyanese wanting to access such support. “We would also be going back to Bank of Guyana,” Gossai said.
In relation to training and capacity building, the coordinator said that plans are afoot to ensure that Guyanese benefit from the “right level of training,” so that they can compete effectively with foreigners entering the local oil and gas arena. “We have had several meetings with those institutions, both public and private institutions as well as technical and vocational training for persons to work in the oil and gas industry,” Gossai indicated.
He noted, too, that the policy, though comprehensive, provides avenues for adjustments, based on the needs and concerns of Guyanese in and out of the petroleum industry.

“One of the things to note is that this is not a stagnant policy, and it is not a policy just for oil and gas,” Gossai reasoned. According to a statement from the Ministry of Natural Resources, the policy initiative is in line with President, Dr. Irfaan Ali’s commitment to ensuring that Guyanese play a greater role in the advancement of the petroleum sector. “The revised policy document seeks to put into context the current and evolving state of Guyana’s oil and gas sector and to enable an improved level of local business participation through value-addition, access to opportunities and capacity building within the energy sector for Guyanese,” the statement read.
It explained too that outside of financing and capacity building, the engagements also highlighted concerns relating to the need for the transformation and modernisation of key sectors such as education and finance.

“The Ministry of Natural Resources is also encouraging all interested stakeholders on the draft Local Content Policy to submit their comments and feedback by Wednesday, 31st March 2021,” the statement added. The Draft Local Content Policy may be viewed at https://nre.gov.gy. Comments can be sent to ministry@nre.gov.gy. It noted too that all contributions received are taken under constructive consideration for the preparation of the next phase of work on the policy.
Once the final policy is completed, the government has said that it will re-engage stakeholders to ensure that the final document satisfies the needs of the people, while remaining aligned to its national objectives of local participation, benefits, enhancing business growth, increased revenue-generating systems and local ownership along the value-chain of the oil and gas sector.