While it is well known that most partnerships are not always successful, it is still a crucial mechanism to help Guyanese build capacity in a very short time so that they can participate in the oil sector. This is according to President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Timothy Tucker. He was at the time, participating in OilNOW TV’s latest webinar which focused on local content.
During his contributions, Tucker reasoned that the oil sector is hundreds of years old, and many countries are in different stages of their life cycle with the said sector. But if Guyana wants to take advantage of the domestic and global opportunities its oil industry will provide, the GCCI President posited that partnership with seasoned firms is the way to go.
“It is the quickest way to get where we need to be in terms of the transfer of knowledge and technological gains; that is the fastest way to do it. If we don’t do this then we would be in the wilderness when it comes to this sector; we would be searching in the dark. It is like going into the jungle and searching for El Dorado…,” the GCCI President expressed.
Further to this, Tucker contended that Guyana’s approach to local content has to go beyond creating jobs and building capacity for business purposes. He insisted that it must extend to improving the technical competencies of the citizenry and strengthening the institutions that will be instrumental to the development of the sector. He said that Guyana is already six years late for where it ought to have been. The GCCI President pointed out that educational institutions such as the University of Guyana entering partnerships with other international academies for the relevant industry programmes to be offered in the country is the kind of approach that can make a difference going forward.
At the end of the day, he said a broad approach to local content and value retention has to be taken.
