-President Ali urges local private sector to start groundwork, be ‘assertive’ ahead of energy conference

TO maximise potential opportunities for investments, consortiums and networking, President Dr. Irfaan Ali has made a charge to Guyana’s private sector to be more assertive and begin their groundwork to tap into the vast opportunities that are set to arise as the country prepares to host its energy conference and supply chain exposition.

With a rebranded focus, over 200 exhibitors and dignitaries from 21 countries have been confirmed for the third edition of the conference.

“The local private sector has to be more assertive and what do I mean…? I think with the scale of investors that are coming in, we have to be ready with proposals, to be ready with proposals you have to do the investment,” President Ali said during an appearance on the Energy Perspective podcast on Sunday.

“I think the local private sector must pay a lot of attention in doing the ground work so that they are ready for any opportunity coming. Even writing out a company profile, investing in the PR [Public Relations] to develop your company profile so you can have matchmaking, networking, with sophistic investors, these are key things I think the local must use its time from now to the energy conference to develop,” he added.

With just a few days remaining until the high-level event opens, the Head of State suggested that both members of the local private sector and organisers of the conference establish a network of professionals who could assist in engaging with partners to capitalise on opportunities that may arise during the three-day conference being held from February 19th-22nd.

At a news briefing last Monday, Chairman of Guyana’s Private Sector Commission, Komal Singh, said that the country’s development pivots on private sector investments, particularly in the oil and gas industry.
He emphasised the potential for collaboration with local businesses to create a robust logistics hub and distribute finished products regionally.

“We want to create a platform where we can collaborate and create partnerships with companies that have the right technical expertise, the capital to support these investments,” Singh said.

He further stressed the continued development in the energy sector to meet market demands and create a competitive marketplace, highlighting the potential for partnerships with local companies to drive growth.

At the same news briefing, 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.