PARAMARIBO, SURINAME – As offshore oil development moves closer to production, Suriname’s government is outlining a longer-term economic vision aimed at ensuring oil revenues translate into broader national development.
In an interview with the Communications Service Suriname on February 26, Minister of Oil, Gas and Environment Patrick Brunings cautioned against over reliance on the country’s emerging oil and gas sector.
“I see the oil and gas industry as a catalyst that will accelerate our economic recovery,” Brunings said. “But we absolutely mustn’t rely on it. We must use this prosperity to develop sustainable industries, so we remain flexible and don’t become dependent on just one source.”
With offshore activity expanding and production from the GranMorgu project in Block 58 expected in 2028, the government is preparing a longer-term economic framework referred to as ‘Suriname 3.0’.
“With the focus on offshore activities and the approaching production in 2028, the government is preparing for Suriname 3.0,” Brunings said.
The concept forms part of a broader development planning effort that includes the preparation of ‘Vision 2050’, which is intended to guide Suriname’s long-term economic trajectory.
According to government discussions with the private sector, the initiative builds on the current ‘Suriname 2.0’ phase and seeks to outline the country’s long-term transformation under Suriname 3.0, while serving as a starting point for both the Green Development Strategy and a new Multi-Year Development Program. The framework has also included discussions about establishing a national development agency, provided for under Article 72f of Suriname’s Constitution, although legislation to create the institution has not yet been pursued further.
According to the minister, the strategy aims to ensure that revenues from the oil and gas sector support the development of other industries, including modern agriculture, ecotourism and fisheries. “You want to diversify as early as possible,” he said.
While oil development is accelerating, Brunings stressed that the country must avoid becoming overly dependent on petroleum revenues and guard against the so-called Dutch disease, where sudden resource wealth weakens other parts of the economy.
“We must absolutely not think that we can now lean back because oil and gas are coming,” he said. “Actually, the opposite is true.”
To address this, Brunings said authorities plan to organize a large national workshop that will bring together government institutions, civil society and other stakeholders to develop a long-term roadmap.
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“All ministries, non-governmental organizations, youth organizations, women’s organizations, indigenous and tribal communities, everyone should be in one room,” he said. “And together we determine: this is where we want to be.”
“It depends on us what we do with that money,” he added. “This is an opportunity.”
