The Government of Guyana is appealing to Guyanese living abroad with knowledge and expertise in the oil and gas industry, to return home.
Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, said these persons are greatly needed to share their expertise in the country’s rapidly growing oil and gas sector.
“It is time that we try to bring in Guyanese who may be in Barbados, Antigua…A lot of Guyanese are working in Trinidad, Canada, Venezuela and Brazil…we can bring them home,” he said, during a televised programme produced by the Alliance For Change (AFC), aired in Guyana on Thursday. The AFC, of which Mr. Trotman is the current leader, is a key member of the coalition block that forms the current government in Guyana.
The government has been hiring experts in the energy field to advise on a range of measures the country is taking in preparation for first oil in 2020. Since the oil and gas industry is new to Guyana, most of these experts are foreign nationals. Guyanese abroad with the requisite knowledge and qualifications can therefore play a key role in this regard.
Mr. Trotman’s call also comes in wake of ongoing discussions in the South American country about the local content framework that is being developed for oil and gas and how this is expected to benefit Guyanese entrepreneurs and business groups.
President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA)), Shyam Nokta, told about 200 guests gathered at a business dinner on Thursday evening in Guyana’s capital city; Georgetown, that private sector entities recognize they are at the beginner stage of the oil and gas learning curve, and as such, are willing to learn.
A number of companies and individuals, most notably from Trinidad and Tobago, have been expressing an interest in working with Guyanese to exploit opportunities in the oil and gas sector. President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Deodat Indar, recently told OilNOW that Guyanese businesses are open to “buddying-up” with other companies and individuals in the industry, once such collaborations result in the transfer of knowledge and skills.
