–Foreign Secretary says, tells persons in the diaspora that skills are needed

FOREIGN Secretary Robert Persaud has urged Guyanese in the diaspora to take advantage of the opportunities available in the local oil-and-gas sector.
Persaud made this call during his address at an oil-and-gas seminar here at the Herdmanston Lodge on Thursday.

The Foreign Secretary, according to the Department of Public Information (DPI), spoke of the need for local participation in order to maximise the benefits of these new and traditional sectors.
“These Guyanese that possess: 1: Skills; skills that are badly needed in Guyana; 2: Capital; 3: A lot of experience; 4: And very importantly, the networking in terms of their connection; in terms of their ability to engage multinational large companies that have reach in many parts of the world.

“Persons who have stood here; who have lived here, who have worked hard to make Guyana and take it to where it is today, but also, we see the diaspora being able to bring additional value in some areas to those persons’ businesses, individuals and their activities here in Guyana, so it is more complementary. So, while we talk about the diaspora as an integral part of the local- content approach, it’s not to the disadvantage of persons, or to take away opportunities,” Foreign Secretary Persaud said.

The seminar was aimed at creating linkages between government and local operators in the sector.
On this note, the Foreign Secretary said: “We don’t only want Guyanese to be the cleaners or the handymen or the menial labourers in this regard and say, ‘Hey, that is local content!’ These are Guyanese we are employing; we want Guyanese to be in leadership positions as much as we also want them to be owners and operators of services or companies.”

During the seminar, the activity featured presentations from the Director of the Local Content Secretariat Martin Pertab, and Chief Labour Officer Daneshwar Deonarine, and several entrepreneurs operating in the sector.
Pertab gave an overview of some of the strides that have been made since the passage of the Local Content Legislation Bill, which includes several mechanisms to enable the secretariat to engage stakeholders so as to ensure that Guyanese benefit optimally.

The Local Content Act that came into effect in December 2021, and the new law earmarks 40 sectors or services, and stipulates a minimum percentage of the total value of expenditure on those services that oil companies and their sub-contractors must procure from Guyanese suppliers.

Already, Guyanese businesses have benefitted immensely from the operations of ExxonMobil, with companies absorbing more than US$600 million (roughly G$125 billion) in expenditures from the oil giant between 2015 and now.

This relates to employment, investment and training opportunities, procurement guidelines, and annual local content plan, among other areas of interest.
According to the Chief Labour Officer, a skills analysis will soon be conducted for the oil-and-gas sector, and the value chain connected to that industry.