A US$35M investment into a manufacturing facility through the joint venture Guysons/K+B Industries (GK+B) will see the creation of some 500 news jobs along the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) over the next five years.
The facility will be constructed on 55 acres of land at Enmore, ECD.
Guysons Engineering was established in 1992 and today is now a leading engineering and machine shop while K+B is a US-based company founded in 1974 that is involved in state-of-the-art production of machinery and equipment for the oil and gas industry.
The joint venture, established in 2020, is majority Guyanese-owned and is the-first-of-its-kind to offer tubular goods, premium threading and accessory services as well as turnkey manufacturing solutions in-country.
Today, President Dr Irfaan Ali spoke to this partnership, during the ongoing four-day International Energy Conference and Expo. In fact, the President said that the Energy Conference and the forum it provides are important in brokering such partnerships.
“This is a massive investment. It’s in the tune of US$35M!”
According to the President, the company has committed to beginning the task of recruiting workers immediately and training them to take up the jobs that will become available.
He also said the company has signed on to various milestones that must be achieved, including job creation and investments into the community. This, he said, will be monitored by the government.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh noted that the PPP Government has always committed itself towards creating jobs. He also noted that the investment is aimed at righting a grave wrong done to the Enmore Sugar Estate by the former APNU/AFC Government.
“This partnership is what we would like to see multiplied and replicated many times over,” the Finance Minister said.
Singh also explained that with the establishment of the fabrication facility, 150 jobs will be created this year and over the next five years, it will add up to 500.
Guyson’s founder, Kadim ‘Kads’ Khan explained that in 2019, two contracts were secured by the company in the areas of engineering and staffing with ExxonMobil.
Jenny Shaw, a resident of Enmore, said that the investment into the community will have a tremendous impact on her home village and communities along the ECD Corridor.