–as gov’t moves to table Local Content Bill in the National Assembly today
–legislation to create enabling, dynamic environment for locals to flourish, says President

THE much-anticipated Local Content Bill, which is expected to be tabled in the National Assembly today, is a transformational piece of legislation which will create an enabling environment to foster opportunities for local content in Guyana.

This was highlighted by President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, while delivering brief remarks at SBM Offshore Guyana’s fifth anniversary celebrations and opening ceremony for the company’s new corporate office at Sheriff Street, Georgetown, on Wednesday.

“The Bill basically is reflective of the reality; ensuring that there is enough scope through a legislative framework that incentivise investment for the local private sector and enable the local private sector to be an important partner to the development of the sector, but more importantly, an important participant and stakeholder in the opportunities of the sector,” President Ali said.

According to the Natural Resource Governance Institute in a reader published by the institute in 2015, local content is the value that an extraction project brings to the local, regional or national economy, beyond the resource revenues. This can be encouraged through national laws, the reader noted.

President Ali related that the Local Content Bill will be a “living document,” which will address “transactional issues” and “transitional issues” faced within the oil and gas sector. Also included in the Bill is the space for evaluation and changes, as the country moves forward.

“As we move to this very important part of the advancement of the sector, I want us to be conscious of the realities, I want us to be conscious of the opportunities and I’m proud of the product that would be the catalytic, directional, legislative push to the forward development of Guyanese,” he said.

The Head of State elucidated that the Bill is tailored in a way to develop a local content platform and an enabling environment in which there are opportunities for local content.

“These opportunities will advance and be graduated as we improve, as we build the capacity, as we develop the skills and as we have greater investment in the sector,” President Ali said, noting that through the correct approach, Guyanese enterprises could develop themselves to offer top-tier services to the industry.

On Friday last, Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, led a team that engaged with civil society on the final consultation on the draft Local Content Policy before it is tabled in the National Assembly.

Recognising the importance of local content and the significance of Local Content Legislation, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Paul Cheong, recently told the Guyana Chronicle that “it will give the local persons and businesses more opportunities to participate in the industry through more jobs and contracts.”

As SBM Offshore opens the doors of its corporate office locally, the company’s General Manager, Francesco Prazzo, related that the development of the company’s local staff complement is critical for the company and disclosed that 46 per cent of the employees are Guyanese.

PARTNERING STRATEGY
“When entering a new country, success does not only depend on our own capabilities, integrity and discipline but also the right partnering strategy. We believe successful and inclusive initiatives must deeply involve local actors,” Prazzo said.

Delivering remarks at the ceremony, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, said that the Local Content Legislation is an effort of the government to ensure the platform is laid for Guyanese to enjoy maximum benefit from the oil and gas sector, and that the sector is managed in a transparent and accountable manner.

While highlighting that he is pleased to learn of the Guyanese staffing at SBM Offshore, Bharrat encouraged that more locals be employed in the future.

“As a government, we want to achieve benefits for our people, we want our people to be trained and employed in the oil and gas sector and I am happy to hear that our people are being trained at university and institutes along with other nationals so they have that same skillset and abilities to work in the oil and gas sector,” Bharrat said.

SBM Offshore, a leading provider of floating production solutions to the global offshore energy industry, was incremental in the construction of the Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel, Guyana’s first FPSO.

The company also developed the country’s second FPSO, the Liza Unity, and construction of Guyana’s third FPSO, the Prosperity, is moving apace, with the hull already at the shipyard in Singapore. The company will also be constructing the country’s fourth FPSO.

The company has also been instrumental in the development of the country. In November, SBM Offshore signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), which will see the company funding a Mangrove Restoration Project along a section of the East Coast of Demerara which will cost over GY$68 million (US$332,000).

The anniversary celebrations and opening ceremony was also attended by Øivind Tangen, Managing-Director, Operations, of SBM Offshore and Alistair Routledge, President of ExxonMobil Guyana.