Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman Wednesday advised local entrepreneurs to be prepared for a level of investment and business activity that is unprecedented.
“Upgrade your skills and knowledge, improve the standards of your businesses, form alliances and partnerships, get ready to compete and be with the best, for they are already here at our doorstep,” Trotman remarked during the feature address at the official opening of the country’s inaugural petroleum summit.
The Guyana International Petroleum Business Summit and Exhibition (GIPEX) 2018 – a three-day event which is being held at the Marriot Hotel – is marketed as a hallmark initiative geared at networking international and local investors.
It is also touted as a knowledge sharing platform where participants can be informed about opportunities and developments in the oil and gas sector.
The Natural Resources Minister explained that, at GIPEX, international businesses will find willing partners and local entrepreneurs will establish the necessary contacts to build a burgeoning petroleum industry and supporting services.
Trotman expressed that the Summit represents the attainment of an important milestone.
“It is the Government of Guyana’s official statement to its citizens and to the world. The first oil in 2020 is no dream, it is not a ‘nancy’ story that we say in Guyana nor is it an illusion, it is very real.”
He recalled that global economists have projected that the Guyanese economy is expected to grow tremendously in the coming decade but expressed that the Government does not want Guyana to be known as simply an oil producing nation.
“We don’t want simply to be known as an oil-producing nation but rather as a country that took its resources and revenues and use them to fashion and carve a nation that is geographically and strategically positioned to produce the food that is required and will be required for the 48 million people who are projected to inhabit the Caribbean in 2050,” Trotman said.
