Vice President Dr Bharrat Jadeo affirmed that foreign investors and companies participating in Guyana’s oil and gas industry are working in tandem with the government and are not in any way robbing the country and the people of their resources.
Speaking on Day Two of the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo 2024, the vice president underscored the importance of debunking misinformation especially as it relates to the petroleum industry.
The government since 2020 has been working tirelessly to create an attractive and conducive environment, one that attracts investment to contribute to the nation’s economic and infrastructure growth.
“The oil and gas sector and the foreign investors in this same area are not robbing the country, we’re working in partnerships with these companies [and] we welcome the investments from foreign companies,” the senior government official underlined in his presentation.
He backed his position by highlighting the government has put in place a strong legislation regime, including the amendment of the Petroleum Activities Act and overhauling the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).
Another landmark piece of legislation is the Local Content Act which is currently undergoing overhauling to address the loopholes that currently exist. In the meantime, the legislation has led to the participation of around 6,000 locals in the burgeoning petroleum industry.
“We try to constantly create a framework in which we can enhance the management of the sector. In the past year, you would have seen … the evolution of the framework,” Dr Jagdeo underscored.
According to the VP, the government may even move to revise this PSA and its regulatory framework before embarking on its second offshore bidding round, to attract more investments that will contribute to the nation’s development.
“It would be good for people in this conference to give us feedback on the regime that we have established. We heard that the PSA is too robust, not necessarily the fiscal terms but other terms of the PSA. We’re looking for that feedback,” he urged.
Dr Jagdeo also addressed concerns about the overheating of Guyana’s economy and he confidently assured that the government has crafted policies and plans to avoid this phenomenon.
“…We have been successful through the allocation of our resources. We have increased our budget allocations significantly, public spending has grown significantly but it has grown on the infrastructure side,” he said.
He added that all investments which are being made in Guyana will be safeguarded as the government is an administration that balances the needs of the investors with the task of ensuring the people of the country benefit.
In concluding his presentation, the vice president remarked that Guyana will be charting its development on its unique model.
“Our model would be different but it will be a model that the people of this country will enjoy in the future,” he underscored. [DPI]
