Govt concludes consultations with stakeholders on draft Local Content Policy

The Ministry of Natural Resources has concluded a series of strategic engagements with various stakeholders on the revised draft Local Content Policy (LCP) – a policy initiative for Guyanese to play a greater role in the advancement of the petroleum sector.
The revised policy document seeks to put into context the current and evolving state of Guyana’s oil and gas sector, and to enable an improved level of local business participation therein through addition of value, access to opportunities, and capacity building for Guyanese within the energy sector.
The sequence of consultations occurred over the course of three weeks, wherein more than 180 public and private sector agencies involved directly or indirectly in the growth and development of Guyana’s hydrocarbon sector were facilitated. These included operators, subcontractors, and local suppliers in the industry; workforce enhancement facilitators such as education agencies, labour union and regulatory bodies; manufacturing and fabrication services; business development and support services; financial services; audit and accounting services; shipping, warehousing and onshore services; hospitality, housing and infrastructure services; regional and international trade; and environmental and civil defence services, among others.
“The general focus of the stakeholders’ response to the draft document fixated primarily on the state of the current capacity of Guyanese (businesses and) skills and expectations for better participation and benefits from the sector, the identification of opportunities that exist for Guyanese to participate in the industry, and the need for transformation in key related sectors, such as education and finance, to support business enhancement that will cater for the needs of the growing petroleum economy,” the Ministry said in a statement.
The Ministry is encouraging all interested stakeholders in the draft Local Content Policy to submit their comments and feedback by Wednesday, 31 March 2021. All contributions received would be taken (into) constructive consideration for the preparation of the next phase of the work on the policy.
“Stakeholders will be re-engaged on completion of the policy, to ensure that the final document is aligned to our national objectives of local participation, benefits, enhancing business growth, increased revenue-generating systems, and local ownership along the value-chain of the oil and gas sector.”
After assuming office in August last year, President Ali established a High-Level Local Content Panel to review policy initiatives on local content in the petroleum sector, and provide guidance for the development of Guyana’s Local Content Policy and Legislation.
The panel, chaired by Shyam Nokta, has compiled and submitted the Local Content Report. Among those who were on the panel were Carl Greenidge, Carville Duncan, Anthony Paul, Kevin Ramnarine, Floyd Haynes, and the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Legal Officer Sasha Rajkumar-Budhan.
Government is likely to hire experts to examine and incorporate comments and suggestions emanating from these stakeholders’ consultations into the final policy document that will be presented in the National Assembly.
However, during his inaugural address to the 12th Parliament last Thursday, President Ali noted that his Government would be introducing a slew of legislation in the National Assembly, including the Local Content Policy, which must first undergo public consultation.
According to the Head of State, Guyanese must not be second-class citizens in the oil and gas sector in their own country. He insisted that all Guyanese must be principal beneficiaries of the sector, ahead of all, and second to none.
Moreover, the President noted that for the benefit of this generation and those yet unborn, his Administration would ensure there is an arm’s length approach to the Sovereign Wealth Fund to insulate it from political interference.
“Legislation will be enacted to define how finances will flow from the Fund into the budget, and the purposes for which they will be used. My Government also intends to account to the nation for every cent earned from the industry, and for every cent that is spent,” the Head of State has been quoted as saying.
To accomplish this, President Ali told Members of Parliament, legislation will be introduced to make the Finance Minister and the Finance Secretary responsible for publishing details of all revenue and expenditure in the Official Gazette, allowing the people to track all transactions. Failure to do so would be punished severely under the law.
Among the key objectives of the Local Content Policy are to enhance the skills and competencies of Guyanese citizens; promote maximum use of Guyanese in the petroleum sector workforce; maximise the use of locally sourced goods and services in the petroleum sector; enhance the capacity of Guyanese businesses and supply chains to become internationally competitive; enhance and make world-class the training, technology, innovation and research and development base of Guyana just to scratch the surface.