–building a resilient supply chain, promoting growth and collaborations among key topics to be discussed

WITH a rebranded focus and several high-level officials expected to attend, Guyana’s Energy Conference and Supply Chain expo will see the country being further positioned as a powerhouse in the industry.

The third edition of the conference will be held from February 19-22 in Georgetown and has already seen on board, 200 exhibitors and dignitaries from 21 countries across the globe.

At a news briefing on Monday, the conference’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kurt Baboolall, said this year’s “expo” has been packaged as “a family-oriented event,” focused on the correlation of the energy sector and tangible developments in the country.

This, he said, fits perfectly into this year’s theme: “Fuelling Transformation and Modernisation.”

“From a macro lens, what it means is that Guyana is using its income from the energy resources to fuel developments and other sectors and transforming and modernising it,” Baboolall said.

He related that just about 19 topics will be discussed at this year’s conference, including: Trends, challenges and best practices; building resilient supply chains in the face of disruptions; growth and collaboration strategies for emerging economies, and investing in Guyana. Discussions will also be held from a youth perspective on the oil and gas industry.

President, Dr. Irfaan Ali will headline this year’s conference and he will be joined by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the Prime Minister of Qatar.

Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Keith Rowley; Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Philip Davis; Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, the President of Suriname Chandrikapersad Santokhi and former President of Colombia, Iván Duque Márquez will be among several other high-ranking officials to attend this year’s conference.

Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat, said that this year’s conference will showcase investment opportunities in tourism, agriculture, forestry, and mining sectors, as Guyana is rightfully positioning itself as a powerhouse.

“A lot has happened from the last conference to this one. And an increase in production definitely spills opportunities throughout the value chain.

“It is attracting a number of countries, a number of leaders in the sector and we will continue to work together. The government and the committee will continue working together to make this expo the premier expo in the hemisphere. We are already on our way to achieving that … I think already we are on our way to achieve that and we are now competing with some big ones in Texas, but I think we can rival them at some point in time,” he said.