PSC sets up working group to forge Local Content Laws

Dec 04, 2019 News

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) of Guyana has decided to spearhead an initiative aimed at bringing about local content laws and not just a policy.
The PSC in a public missive, yesterday, said that the decision was taken in light of widespread concerns expressed by sections of the local private sector on the issue of local content. It took into consideration recent calls for legislative protection made by the Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and Guyana Manufacturers Association (GMSA).
The private sector umbrella organisation announced that the PSC, which represents 23 private sector organisations, convened its Trade and Investment Sub-Committee to discuss the concerns and to give effect to the call for local content legislation.
Following its deliberations, a Multi-Stakeholder Working Group will be established by the private sector. It will include other stakeholders including civil society, labour unions, and political parties to broaden the discussion on local content legislation.
GCCI at a Gala Award ceremony this past week called for local content provisions to be codified in order to protect domestic businesses in the oil and gas industry.
GCCI President, Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer, in his address to the business leaders gathered for the gala affair, said that while the business support organisation welcomes “companies who invest into our country, GCCI believes that investment incentives should be expanded and codified as well as be accessible to both foreign and local companies in the various sectors.”
Addressing the growing debate over the issue of incentives, the GCCI President said based on “much of what we have heard complaints about can be traced back to a need to codify the incentives so that they are transparent and available to all investors, both local and foreign.”
According to Deygoo-Boyer, “We have seen some significant investments recently by local companies that should be commended, despite their challenges in accessing investment incentives commensurate to the level of investment.”
The GMSA had recently backed calls by other private sector bodies for the establishment of laws regulating local content in the emerging oil and gas sector.
That body in a public statement said, “We are strongly of the view that a critical evaluation should be undertaken of all foreign based companies that have been provided with concessions by GO-INVEST and the Government.”
As such, the GMSA “urges the Government of Guyana to do so in order to ascertain whether there exists any Guyanese Company that have been and/or will be disadvantaged as it relates to unfair competition particularly within our Manufacturing and Services Sectors and beyond.”
According to the GMSA, local manufacturers continue to face the hardship of being unable to enjoy the same benefits as foreigners entering into the country primarily to maximise the benefits associated with the new oil and gas industry.
GMSA said it would like that emphasis placed on Guyana deriving maximum benefits from its natural resources.
The GMSA said laying a solid foundation for the implementation of local content policies through appropriate legal and regulatory framework is imperative if the desired outcomes are to be achieved.
“To date, we have observed that there is no dedicated monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and/or institutions empowered with regulatory authority and autonomy to ensure the implementation of local content policy in Guyana.
As such, GMSA advocated that an independent Commission be established to remedy this anomaly and that in this context GMSA supports the formation of a “Local Content Commission to ensure that the intended goals are achieved and for necessary policy adjustments to be made if and when these become necessary.”

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