Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will soon establish a portal on its website that will allow persons in the Diaspora to see what opportunities are available to them in the oil and gas sector from ExxonMobil.
Speaking during a Diaspora engagement in New York on Saturday, Minister of foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge said the Government is also looking at training opportunities that will ensure Guyanese are kept up-to-date with the demands of the industry.
Mr. Greenidge said recent meetings held in Texas with ExxonMobil focused on how to enable Guyanese contractors to satisfy requirements that would allow them to compete effectively.
He pointed out that, “Many of the Guyanese firms that are in construction could not compete for international contracts but if you want to get more value added you have to be able to compete as a contractor…We find many of the contractors that are bidding for government contracts cannot complete the contract documents.”
Further, Mr. Greenidge challenged Guyanese to be creative when examining opportunities in the industry. “A man comes along and Exxon says they want breakfast to be provided and what I see is a lot of those who show interests only see themselves buying something when it is cheap and selling it at a mark-up. You are never going to compete in those circumstances with a big company operating out of New York. You have to be adding value and create something that Exxon will look at as something special.”
Mr. Greenidge’s comments followed a question posed by U.S based-Guyanese, Godfrey Fresco, who is the owner of two companies, one in the United States and the other in Guyana.
