– President Ali says Guyana is open for foreign investments, partnerships
– but maintains country will not allow its businesses to be marginalised

THOUGH Guyana is actively pursuing foreign investments and partnerships, the government is adamant that local businesses will not be marginalised as the country continues to build on its emerging energy wealth.
With a heavy focus on addressing existing loopholes and strengthening its local content legislation, the country’s Head of State, Dr. Irfaan Ali, said that the local private sector and Guyanese at large will not just be mere spectators.

“We’re not shielding the sector from foreign investment we’re actively courting. Guyana has never been more open to the world, to capital, to partnership, but our openness is not equivalent to marginalisation of local businesses,” President Ali told a Local Content Summit on Tuesday.
“We will not allow our private sector or our people to be mere spectators… we will not permit the benefits of oil and gas to bypass our workers, our businesses and our communities,” he added.
The country, he noted further, is working to ensure that it has the capacity to provide services at the highest level of standards.

“We are upping our game, we’re improving our efficiency, we’re upskilling our people, and we’re building capacity to provide services at a higher level, which also will benefit the national good.”
With a clear goal in mind, the intent is to create diverse models that could see the country not only leveraging its energy resources but also building out other industries to remain resilient in the economy.
“We don’t want to create models that are unsustainable, models in which you will build your business case on energy that is below market value or subsidised, and then when things change in the future, their entire business model collapse.”
“But what we want to do as an emerging energy rich country is to provide energy support, energy support in a targeted way, manufacturing, agro-processing, certain industrial development,” he added.
In this regard, he noted that it is critical for any government to take informative steps to enhance local participation to ensure that the benefits of development are equitably shared and sustainably anchored within the country.
With this in mind, he noted that Guyana is set on enhancing its local content legislation.

“Countries with emerging industries have every right obligation to put in place policies that ensure that their citizens and businesses are not left behind. Local content legislations are not a barrier to development.”
Guyana’s local content laws have facilitated value creation, with 100 per cent of Guyanese companies providing services like custom brokerage and medical services in the oil and gas sector.
It has also led to upskilling and capacity building, benefitting the national strategy in healthcare and creating a new wave of wealth
“There are still attempts to exploit legal loopholes. There are still some who seek to undermine the spirit, if not the letter, of the local content act. We will not stand idly by. We will continue to strengthen enforcement and to close any gaps that are being abused,” President Ali said.
Since the passage of the Local Content Act, local companies have benefitted from over US$1.5 billion in contracts and procurement, with 1,100 Guyanese companies successfully being added to the register at the end of 2024.