Plans are afoot for a trade mission composed of business representatives from the United Kingdom (UK) to visit Guyana, in what is being described as a chance to foster increased business and the exchange of technical knowledge between the two states.
This was revealed by British High Commissioner to Guyana, Gregory Quinn during a press conference on Friday. Quinn revealed that these businesses would hail particularly from the city of Aberdeen, Scotland.
Aberdeen has long been called the centre of oil production in Europe and though barrels of oil have long peaked, it has contributed to the UK being one of the major oil producers after Norway.
Of recent, its university has served as a post graduate institution for several
An Elgin oil field rig, located in the North Sea off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland (Daily Mail photo)
Guyanese on Chevening scholarships.
“There’s a trade mission coming in January,” Quinn said. “And we’re looking at the possibility for increasing links between here and the UK, particularly Aberdeen, which is the centre of the oil industry in the UK, across business, cultural and development… Aberdeen, before oil was discovered in the UK in the 1970s, was a backwater town on the East Coast of Scotland.”
“The oil allowed it to build up and develop an expertise that I think would be helpful for people to see here. And lessons can be learned about how to and how to not do things. There are talks about a possible UK/Guyana Chamber of Commerce. So there is an increase in the number of UK businesses that are coming and working here,” the diplomat explained.
Quinn cited the presence of the Noble Bob Douglas drill ship, which is owned by UK based company Noble Corporation. The ship, which has a three-year contract with ExxonMobil to drill for oil, has been training and employing several Guyanese aboard the vessel.
The High Commissioner also pointed to Tullow Oil, which has been administering the lesser known Orinduik oil block alongside Eco Guyana, following the signing of a 10-year Petroleum Prospecting licence and Production Sharing Agreement with Government in 2016.
“There are a lot of business companies involved, albeit not in the front lines, so there is already that existence. And there is a recognition that there needs to be a bit more done to build the business contacts, hence the plan that we would bring over a delegation from Aberdeen in January.”
Quinn subsequently clarified that the UK would not take the lead in establishing such a chamber but rather the private sector. It is a venture, however, that Quinn pledged the UK’s support on. He also spoke of the benefits of having the chambers.
“If you look at the UK services industry, I think it’s the biggest single contributor to the British economy. We’re no longer the manufacturing economy we once were. We’re a service economy. So, there’s insurance and market capitalisation on raising funds, experience we could pass on. There’s the retail. So I think’s there’s opportunities. We have had people coming in and working with GWI on things like water valves. There’s the educational side of things,” he said, pointing to Dr Peter O’Toole’s programmes at Nations University… programmes linked with UK institutions.
We’ve got a lot of British companies coming here. I think it would be good to see more Guyanese companies going in the other direction. And I think it’s something the Private Sector understands,” he said.
It was only last week that the American Chamber of Commerce was officially launched in Guyana at the Marriott Hotel. The event was attended by a large section of the local Private Sector and representatives from the United States business community.
Speaking at the event, President of AmCham Guyana, Zulfikar Ally, said the Chamber plans to place emphasis on small businesses to ensure they too have opportunities to grow; a welcome announcement for many such businesses.
