Recently appointed Head of the Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe has touted joint ventures as a way of raising the standards of local businesses.
“It is through joint ventures that Guyanese businesses may be afforded the opportunity to exploit mid and downstream opportunities while simultaneously raising their standards and increasing their competitiveness,” Dr. Bynoe said.
He was at the time addressing a 50-member trade and investment delegation from the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and other officials at a reception held at the Canadian High Commission’s residence at Bel Air Gardens on Monday evening.
Fifty persons from the Canadian Province’s offshore oil and gas industry are on a visit to Guyana for four days.
Dr. Bynoe noted that the visit is timely, adding that “these are indeed exciting times to be a Guyanese.”
Speaking of the focus moving forward, he said the Department will continue to seek ways to “streamline operations that occur within the sector and which are essential for our private sector parties.”
This streamlining, he said, focuses on five broad principles: efficiency, transparency, predictability, balance and evidence-based decision making.
As it relates to transparency, he noted that this includes the revision and crafting of relevant acts that “will lay out the conditions of engagement and rules of the game.”
On the topic of predictability, the Energy Head said this is essential for good planning and investment decisions within the private sector. As such, it will continue to honour its obligations but it will be firm and consistent in the application of the requisite laws.
However, “it does not mean that being predictable guarantees anyone or business any special favours,” Dr. Bynoe said.
Instead, he noted that “it will allow all to know what the rules are, what are your calculable probabilities of achieving one of the set of known outcomes and whether that’s a risk you will be willing to take.”
Noting that the Department’s decisions will be premised on evidenced-based facts, he reiterated his commitment to good governance.
The importance of good governance to ensure a viable oil and gas sector was highlighted by Canadian Minister of Natural Resources from Newfoundland and Labrador, Siobhan Coady who is leading the Canadian delegation.
During her speech, she expressed hope that like her Province, Guyana will be able to use the revenue from its oil and gas industry to maximize development opportunities.
She pointed out that her Province has been in the petroleum industry for 20 years and has produced over 1.7 billion barrels of oil as she pledged to share her experiences with Guyana.
“We have brought companies here to meet with Guyana’s companies to share on the knowledge transfer we have been able to gain over the last twenty years,” she told those gathered at the Canadian High Commissioner’s residence in Georgetown.
“We have had the opportunity of learning from other oil and gas industries and having that knowledge transfer, information exchange, continued innovations and encouragement really helped transform the economy will give hope and opportunity to the Guyanese people,” she added.
The Canadian official and Guyana’s Business Minister on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the oil and gas industry.
Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Lilian Chatterjee later disclosed that A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed with four Guyanese firms, namely, NSV Energy, Rogers Enterprise, ActionCoach Guyana and Global Technology, during this visit.
