Local Content Policy being crafted to include Diaspora

Sep 25, 2021 News

…since Guyana cannot develop with size of current population—Pres Ali

Kaieteur News – President, Irfaan Ali, along with Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, yesterday took time out of their participation at the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) underway in New York, USA, to host a press engagement at the Hilton International Hotel.

Head of State, President Irfaan Ali, addressing the media in NY, on the sidelines of the 76th UNGA

At the event, President Ali disclosed that his delegation would be using the day (yesterday) to focus on interactions particularly with the Diaspora and espoused that Guyana as a country cannot be developed with the relatively small size of its population.
As such, he indicated that the administration in crafting its proposed ‘Local Content Policy’ is including measures to ensure that the members of the Guyanese Diaspora are included in Guyana’s overall development as an Oil and Gas producer.
He said during his delegation’s several meetings with leaders and large institutions “the power of the Diaspora” was given due recognition while adding that the “growth of Guyana will require a larger population.”
According to the President, the first source of growth for the Guyana population is the Diaspora and as such, the Local Content Policy is being crafted to “capture your energy, your ability to participate in” the growth of the economy.
He said the Guyana delegation at the UNGA was able to present the country as a strong emerging market not only for oil and gas but with regard to the many other existing opportunities available not just in oil and gas but in other areas such as agro processing and food production.
“There is a natural traffic that is coming to Guyana as a result of oil and gas,” President Ali said, as he outlined that this in itself has allowed for the opportunities in other sectors to be exposed … people are also seeing other opportunities that exist in the country.”
Signaling his administration’s intent to continue to engage overseas, he said “We recognise the importance of the Diaspora,” and announced plans for future outreaches to the Guyanese Diaspora in cities such as New York, Atlanta, and other US states.
The Diaspora, he said “is very interlinked in the development taking place in Guyana.”
Only recently Guyana’s Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Robert Persaud, had espoused that the Diaspora cannot be excluded from any development plans for the country, with regards to its emerging Oil and Gas sector.
This, Persaud opined, is given the enormous potential that exists in the Diaspora and not domiciled in-country.
He was at the time engaged in a panel discussion on ‘Labour and Migration’ in Guyana which was hosted by the American Chambers of Commerce in Guyana (AmCham).
During that occasion, Persaud had underscored that several countries across the world have turned to their respective Diaspora populations, not only for political purposes but also for economical development.
As such, he announced that Guyana is currently pursuing a ‘Migration Policy’ for the country that would guide the inflows of the domestic labour market and deal with inherent issues of citizenship.

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