The final draft document outing Guyana’s local content policy framework has been handed over to authorities and an implementation plan is expected to be crafted soon.
Author of the document and Policy Advisor to Guyana’s Natural Resources Ministry, Regional Energy Expert, Anthony Paul, gave this confirmation on the sidelines of the recently concluded Guyana International Petroleum Exhibition and Summit (GIPEX).
Speaking to the Guyanese media in the Potaro Room of the Marriot Hotel where GIPEX 2018 was held, Mr. Paul confirmed that the Ministry has been handed the final draft of the document he prepared. The Government agency, he said, is currently in the process of fine tuning that document.
According to Mr. Paul, a decision on when to release it will have to be taken by the Ministry.
Speaking to what entails should the document receive the blessings of the Guyana authorities, Mr. Paul disclosed “planning…the next step is building an implementation plan that speaks through things that need to be done, what areas to focus on…how we make sure Guyanese participate in contracts; that is the plan.”
Funding Vacuum
He did caution that funding for the implementation of Guyana’s local content policy, while recognized and acknowledged in the draft, will ultimately have to be decided on by Government.
“It doesn’t specify where the funding will come from…it recognizes there is a requirement for that,” he said.
Mr. Paul suggested that the Guyana Government could very well choose to spend out of its own budget to fund the building of local content and capacity, or could very well opt to have companies in the industry foot the bill.
The local content advisor suggested that the Guyanese authorities examine a Nigerian model which stipulates each industry contract paying a percentage of its value into a special fund.
This fund, according to Mr. Paul, is then used to pay for local training and capacity building-including the purchase of training materials.
The special fund is managed by a professional management team “that manages the fund like any fund that companies can apply to,” he added.
