A group of business representatives from Guyana, under the umbrella of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), will soon be travelling to Aberdeen, United Kingdom, on a mission to explore partnership opportunities in the petroleum industry.
The trade mission will include approximately nine local businesses. Accompanying the group will be Senior Vice President of GCCI, Nicholas Boyer, representatives of the University of Guyana, head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams, and a representative of at least one other government agency.
British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn and Guyana’s High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, Hamley Case, will also be accompanying the group.
The mission is set to depart on November 25 and will conclude on November 30.
At a press conference on Thursday at the Chamber’s Waterloo Street, Georgetown office, Boyer noted that the desire is to get members of the business group connected to a range of companies in the Aberdeen oil and gas industry.
“We have to reach out to various places that have existing capabilities to learn. That is the way that we’re going to grow and grow quickly,” he noted.
Boyer added that “once we build that bridge, it is expected that UK-Guyana trade will grow from cross investments to technology transfers.”
A number of meetings will take place including those with the UK Oil and Gas Authority, UK Oil and Gas Association, the Energy Industries Council and the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce.
GCCI, which represents 235 companies in Guyana, is also hoping to ink several agreements with institutions in Aberdeen.
President of the Chamber, Deodat Indar believes that the initative will significantly boost “fledgling businesses” in the local petroleum industry.
Francis Kiernan, Managing Director of Aberdeen-based ABIS Energy, also participated in the press conference on Thursday. He said the aim is to reconnect in both areas of business and diplomacy. “For us, what is important is to share 60-70 years of the development of the oil and gas industry in Aberdeen and very significant parallels with what is going to happen here,” he said.
Kiernan also said the UK’s oil and gas association will offer assistance to Guyana’s Department of Energy –boosting its regulative capabilities.
High Commissioner Quinn who also attended Thursday’s press conference said the exchange will not only allow business to business links in the petroleum industry but also in the areas of education and culture.
He said one of the major lessons to be learned is how to build an oil industry while maintaining other industries, including agriculture.
“One of the things we would like to show is how you deal with physically developing a region while allowing it to support an industry – the infrastructure, but also how you use the proceeds of the industry to build the infrastructure which is beneficial to the entire country,” the High Commissioner pointed out.
He disclosed that a trade mission is also expected to visit Guyana from the UK in January 2019.
In August, the High Commissioner had stated that there is a possibility of a UK-Guyana Chamber of Commerce coming on-stream soon.
