Offshore Technology Conference 2025: Local SMEs urged to tap into business opportunities

…Focus to be placed on investments outside of oil and gas

With the highly anticipated Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) just some three months away, stakeholders have made a call to action for local Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to sign up for the event, noting that they will have the opportunity to secure investments and business ventures in several key sectors.
The OTC is a series of conferences and exhibitions, focused on exchanging technical knowledge relevant to the development of offshore energy resources, primarily oil and natural gas.
The flagship event is held annually during early May in Houston, Texas, USA since 1969.
On Friday, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) conducted a press conference to update stakeholders about what they can expect from this year’s conference.
Speaking at the event, Senior Vice President (VP) of the GCCI Kathy Smith, urged local SMEs to enrol themselves for the event. She highlighted that the energy sector has a plethora of opportunities that these businesses can capitalise on.
“Most of us would look to the Government to build out the energy sector within Guyana, but if we are to encourage businesses to be part of that sector, to help grow that sector, and in return help grow their businesses, we as the chamber, as an advocacy body, want to make sure that our businesses, our members, have an understanding as to how to do that,” she said.

“So, for those SMEs who consider themselves high growth and you want to be part of the energy sector, this is an opportunity for you to go there and to get partnership. I’m not sure if anybody might be able to say, but every year that we go, members are coming back for partnership with us every single year that we go,” she added.
Also present at the event was Senior Director of Investment at the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) John Edghill. He revealed that at this year’s event, emphasis will be placed on securing investments and partnerships in several key areas outside of the oil and gas sector.
“As the Guyana Office for Investment and Investment Promotion Agency for the country, we see it as an opportunity to display all that Guyana has to offer. As you know, we want to build sustainable development in this country. We have a Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030. We have a lot of national development goals that we are linking to the oil and gas sector. But we are using the oil and gas sector to be able to build out the other sectors… We will display to them our tourism potential, our agriculture potential, our manufacturing potential, and be able to reduce energy costs by 50 per cent in a few months,” he noted.
Moreover, Senior Petroleum Coordinator at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Bobby Gossai, highlighted that the OTC will serve as a platform that will equip local businesses with the tools and resources needed to bring innovative products to Guyana.

“We know that we have countries close by, and maybe further afield that can possibly provide goods and services, that are not being able to manoeuvre to Guyana or being able to establish themselves here. We want you to be able to attend those events like OTC and be able to focus on that and bring that home. This is where we really want the local businesses, through the established partnership with the Government, to find those avenues, to find those economic opportunities that could come back to Guyana and establish more businesses here as we look forward to 2025 and years beyond that,” he urged.
Additionally, GCCI President Kester Hutson revealed how Guyanese have benefitted from the event over the years.
“We have had delegations of approximately 35 business leaders who attended the Offshore Technology Conference and would have received very much good rewards by being exposed to the event, and the networking of course, and that eventually led to great partnerships.”
The GCCI President added. “And we would have known of these success stories locally. It is something that we pride ourselves with; to really organise with the local private sector and to really lead but this is not just private sector. This is Guyana at large; this is where the private sector and the public sector really collaborate in a significant way to really make this event a success.”
More than 100 Guyanese private sector members have participated in the OTC in the previous years.
Notably, new businesses who take part in this year’s proceedings of the OTC will be given a one-year free membership at the GCCI.