BOTH Guyana’s Local Content legislation and amendments to the Natural Resources Fund Act will be tabled in the National Assembly before the end of year, according to President, Dr. Irfaan Ali.

At a virtual press conference on Friday, Dr. Ali said that Guyana would be receiving the support from the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and his technical team.

“They will work with us on the finalisation of our local content legislation and they will assist in the amendment of The Sovereign Wealth Fund legislation,” Dr. Ali told reporters.

Even though Guyana’s Natural Resources Fund (NRF) contains more than US$436 million, the Government of Guyana has insisted that it will not dip into those monies unless the requisite pieces of legislation are in place.

More specifically, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, had said that until or unless withdrawals from the fund are greenlighted by the National Assembly, Guyana’s oil wealth will remain untouched.

With the petroleum industry gearing up for mammoth developments, the country’s NRF could comfortably close off the year with almost US$600 million. Since assuming office in August 2020, the Irfaan Ali-led government had promised that Guyana’s oil wealth will be directly injected into improving the lives of all Guyanese, as well as to boost critical non-oil sectors such as education, agriculture and health.

Dr. Ali also reiterated his government’s intention to ensure that monies also remain in the NRF to safeguard the prosperity of future generations.

Meanwhile, President Ali said that Ghana’s commitment to assist Guyana in finalising the pieces of legislation, stemmed from bilateral discussions between the two Heads of State, on the side lines of the 76th United Nations General Assembly in Mexico in September. The engagement between the two presidents focused heavily on the petroleum sector as well as climate change.

It is believed that the oil-producing nation would have much to advise Guyana in relation to ‘dos and don’ts’ as well as provide guidance on possible pitfalls that can occur.

President Ali explained that as a result of his engagements with the Ghanian President, Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, was able to lead a team of Guyanese officials to Ghana. There, it was determined that within the coming months, a technical team from Ghana will come to Guyana to assess and provide feedback.

Added to that, the Vice President of Ghana is also expected to visit Guyana later in the year, while President Akufo-Addo is gearing up for a visit himself. President Ali indicated that his Ghanian counterpart is planning to come to Guyana in February 2021, just in time to participate in Guyana’s oil and gas conference.

Outside of the state-to-state engagements, President Ali said that Guyana will also be accommodating a team of investors from Ghana, which will see private sector officials coming to establish partnerships with the local private sector, in relation to various prospects and investment opportunities.

“So, in addition to the technical teams and the co-operation at the bilateral level, we have also established an opportunity for co-operation and collaboration, and partnership with the private sector from Ghana and that of Guyana, and a team from Ghana will be here in Guyana to look at this specifically,” President Ali noted.

He said that already, the Ghanians have various areas of interest, including agriculture, mining, tourism, and food production.

“They have a wide array of interests,” Dr. Ali emphasised.

He expressed hope that members of the local private sector would actively participate and create the environment for the Ghana-Guyana partnership to prosper.