–set to create over 100 jobs within five years

WITH work in Guyana’s oil and gas sector progressing rapidly, a major energy technology company, Baker Hughes, is positioning itself to benefit from the opportunities that will be created with the planned opening of its multimillion-dollar oil and gas facility at Land of Canaan.

The new local super-centre facility for oilfield services and equipment, which will open its doors on Monday, will support regional customers and bolster Baker Hughes’ localisation efforts within South America.

The massive eight-acre multimodal facility was built together with Baker Hughes’ existing warehouse and liquid mud and fluids plant, to provide full support to customers in Guyana and Suriname.

The super centre represents a multimillion-dollar investment from Baker Hughes over 15 years and includes a workshop, warehouse, and laydown storage yard including maintenance facilities and equipment.

Baker Hughes is an international company that designs, manufactures, and services transformative technologies for the energy industry.

The company also offers oilfield services, oilfield equipment, turbomachinery and process solutions for onshore and offshore productions, among other types of operations and digital solutions.

It is regarded as one of the world’s leading energy technology companies with operations in more than 120 countries with around 67,000 employees.

Locally, through its new facility, the company is expected to create over 100 jobs within the next five years.

It was reported recently that even as Guyana continues to contend with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other external shocks, there has been a notable increase in the number of opportunities for Guyanese, with the latest symbol of this being the approval of 48 private projects which, collectively, have the capacity to create over 2,300 jobs.

Based on information shared with this publication, of the 48 projects which were approved last year, 17 are in the services sector, 17 in the manufacturing sector, five in agriculture, four in mining, three in forestry, two in tourism, two in Information and Communications Technology and one in the energy sector.

Those project proposals signal the growing interest and confidence in the local economy, from both Guyanese and foreigners. Noteworthy amidst this advancement, is the fact that 33 of the approved projects are from locals.

Speaking during an interview with Globespan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Go-Invest, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop, had said that 65 per cent of the private investments made in 2021 were from locals.

Dr. Ramsaroop said that, even as the economy continues to grow, President Dr. Irfaan Ali, and, by extension, the government, are committed to having Guyanese benefit from the investment opportunities that are available locally.

“So, when people think the foreigners are coming in and benefitting, I can say that 65 per cent of my signatures on investment opportunities this year [2021], through the Senior Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, have been local businesses,” Dr. Ramsaroop said.

He added: “We’ve got another 10-20 per cent from CARICOM, which we are proud of, too, and then the rest come from the rest of the world. But it will change over time.”

But even with this being the case, the CEO had assured foreigners that Guyana is also opened to them.

Their participation in local development was also visible in 2021, with some nine Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects being recorded up to December, while there were three proposals from Guyanese in the diaspora, and six joint ventures.