Following the massive oil discoveries offshore Guyana, the Guyana Oil and Gas Association (GOGA) says the country has an opportunity to achieve a new path of sustainable economic growth and development; through applicable Local Content Policies and Strategies that can produce maximum economic benefits for its economy.
In support of this cause, GOGA in collaboration with Marak Alliance is set to stage the first Local Content Conference and Exhibition in Guyana on November 26 and 27 at the Arthur Chung International Convention Centre (ACICC), Railway Embankment Road, on the outskirts of Georgetown.
In a press statement on Tuesday, GOGA said Local-content legislation and policies in emerging oil and gas producing countries such as Guyana have become a key priority of host governments and industry players alike. Increasingly, more resource-rich developing countries like Guyana are enacting local-content legislation as a means of maximizing the benefits to be gained from their petroleum industries.
The purpose of developing national local content policies is to increase the value generated by the exploitation of a resource that remains in the domestic economy; and to develop linkages between the oil sector and the rest of the economy, GOGA pointed out.
“What matters is not only what happens in the sector, but what happens beyond. As such, local content can encompass forward, lateral and backward linkages. Backward linkages are those created by the commercial relations between oil operators and their supply chains, which include the transfer of technology and know-how, employment of nationals, and sourcing local goods and services,” the association said.
The Local Content Conference and Exhibition, GOGA pointed out, is an opportunity for policy makers and companies, subcontractors, academics, consultants, the local business community and other interested stakeholders to deliberate on how local development in the emerging energy industries can benefit the creation and growth of value in the country.
Participants will have the opportunity to learn and interact with decision makers from countries that have implemented similar policies, from international academics and consultants who have researched the economic benefits and challenges of these policies, from oil companies’ experiences with local content strategies and from the local business leaders.
GOGA held the first major oil and gas conference and exhibition in Guyana in March 2017.
This is a very good move.