–Vice-President Jagdeo affirms; says country not trying to be like other nations
–assures investors that investments in this country will always be safe

WITH Guyana beaming with massive potential in almost every sector, Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo assured local and international investors that their investments in this country are safe.

During the second day of the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo at the Marriott Hotel, on Tuesday, the Vice-President outlined how the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is transparent and has been crafting policies to ensure that the country remains on its transformational path.

“I want to ensure you that your investments will be safe,” Dr Jagdeo said amidst resounding applause from the massive audience, who were enticed with the myriad opportunities that the rising powerhouse of South America and the Caribbean possesses.

Growing tired of Guyana being compared to other countries, especially given the fact that these nations are completely different, the Vice-President said: “We’re not going to be Qatar or UAE. We don’t want to be. They’re different countries.”
He said earlier that morning, someone asked him if Guyana will be the next Qatar, and owing to this, he outlined some peculiar differences between both countries such as their sizes and how this would play a key role in budgetary allocations in areas such as infrastructure.

“Our model would be different but it will be a model where the people of this country will enjoy in the future,” Jagdeo said.
Using the education sector as an example, he highlighted that within the last four years, the budget for this sector has grown by 162 per cent, moving from $52 billion to $135 billion.

As he continued to reflect on what the government is doing to ensure there is quality and accessible education, Jagdeo said that over 20,000 people benefitted from online scholarships.
Further, with Guyana having one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the entire world, he said: “We’ve not seen a ballooning of our debt service payments [when] global interest rates rose recently.”

THRIVING OIL SECTOR
While refuting the arguments purported by detractors of development, the Vice-President said that Guyana’s oil sector is being transformed to usher in betterment for all.
“We live in a democracy… We have to respond to them, maybe ridiculous as some of these assertions are; you have to constantly keep responding to these things because in the mind of many people, they actually believe this,” the Vice-President remarked.

As he went on to assure international and local stakeholders that Guyana is not being “robbed” by oil and gas companies, Jagdeo said: “Now the oil and gas sector and the foreign investors in this same area, are not robbing the country. We’re working in partnership with these companies.”

Further, he said that foreign investments are welcomed, as the PPP/C Government has consistently worked to foster an ideal environment where investors could earn a good return on their capital whilst contributing to the development of the nation.
Not stopping there, the Vice-President highlighted the ways in which the PPP/C administration has been working to enhance the management of the oil and gas sector.

He said: “So, the past year, you would have seen from the last time we [were] here, evolution of the framework. We had the first licensing round; it took longer than anticipated because we promised that the PSA would be made available to people and also the draft Petroleum Bill would be available to the bidders.”

With the introduction of the Petroleum Activities Bill which replaced the country’s Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act of 1986, the Vice-President highlighted how it brought new dimensions to the oil sector.
He also encouraged those who participated in the licensing round, which is currently being concluded, to give their feedback on the Production Sharing Agreements (PSA).

ENVIRONMENTAL BOOM
As the nation continues to champion forest conservation, the Vice-President shifted his attention to his brainchild, the ground-breaking Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and the strides being made under that framework.
In 2023, the country received its first payment of US$75 million (or G$15.6 billion). Some 15 per cent of this was allocated to community/village-led programmes for Indigenous Peoples, while the remaining 85 per cent was allocated for adaptation measures outlined in the country’s LCDS.

The payment is a result of the Government of Guyana’s continued recognition of the important role that Guyana’s forests play in not only the development of the country, but in combatting climate change globally.
For context, in 2022, the architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) issued the world’s first trees credit, enabling the country to enter into an historic agreement with Hess Corporation, whereby the oil giants opted to purchase about one-third of all Guyana’s credits.

Jagdeo also said he was looking forward to the panel discussion, which is scheduled to happen today. He hopes the discussion will be fruitful and even examine the efforts of the government to examine the net-zero target.
Since Guyana’s oil and gas industry emerged over the past few years, there has been a notable increase in the frequency of conferences and seminars being held in the country—a change which has been a catalyst for an increased influx of potential investors.

The energy conference and expo, which is be running for the third consecutive year, features some 200 exhibitors and hundreds of participants from 21 countries, including foreign Heads of State.
These numbers are not just reflective of an influx in travellers to the country, with economic benefits for tourism; they speak to a marked increase in investor interest in the nation.