Local content register goes into effect, Guyanese encouraged to ‘sign up’

Two weeks after the National Assembly approved $20 million for the implementation of the Local Content Secretariat, including the creation of the portal for companies and Guyanese professionals, that system is now up and running.

The new Local Content law provides for the establishment of a Local Content Secretariat that will develop and maintain a Local Content Register of Guyanese nationals for employment and Guyanese companies from which goods and services may be procured.

The register was launched on Tuesday by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Local Content Secretariat.

Local businesses and professionals  can now register at https://lcregister.petroleum.gov.gy/

The ExxonMobil controlled Centre for Local Business Development posted a notice to all registered businesses and professionals to sign on to the government’s register as stipulated in the Local Content Act.

The centre currently has a register of over 3, 400 Guyanese businesses but the law now makes it a legal requirement for local businesses to be registered at a government-controlled Local Content Secretariat.

These two registers, as explained in the Local Content Act, will deal specifically with the procurement of goods, and secondly, the provision of skills and employment.

The law also outlines a schedule that sets out targets of benefits for Guyanese in 40 key sectors to be implemented by the end of 2022.