PSC Chair calls for expansion of Local Content targets

Nov 09, 2022 News

…even as Local Content Secretariat boasts of surpassing targets

Kaieteur News – Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Paul Cheong on Tuesday called on the Local Content Secretariat (LCS) to expand the areas set aside for Guyanese to benefit from the oil and gas sector.

“It is time that we expand those 4o categories. The capacity and skills of the Guyanese and their businesses are expanding,” Cheong said at the opening of the Guyana Supplier Forum, a two-day event being held at the Leonora National Stadium, Region Three.

The PSC Chair also encouraged local businesses to work together to strengthen their output.

Director of the Local Content Secretariat, Martin Pertab

“We believe that there is no substitute for working together. We need to stop seeing each other as competitors but rather as partners and use the synergy to achieve even greater success,” he urged.

Cheong said that with Guyana ranking among the fastest growing economies in the World, the opportunities for Guyanese exist but require carefully drafted plans to improve capacity and skillsets to tap into these offers.

In the meantime, Director of the LCS, Martin Pertab, who provided an update on the achievements of the Department, said that several targets for the year have already been met.

“Based on our initial estimate, we have anticipated an additional 836 new hires in the industry. However, based on preliminary assessment, as of June of this year the industry had created an additional 1,125 new jobs opportunities of which 858 were filled by Guyanese, taking the total amount of Guyanese in the oil and gas industry to 3,689,” Pertab said.

Additionally, he pointed out that close to 80 percent of the recruits were employed to fill technical positions. This means that the Secretariat not only managed to reach its target of new employees in the first six months of the year but also exceeded its projection by 34.5 percent.

Similarly, when it comes to the capacity building element of local content, the Secretariat was expecting the contractors and sub-contractors to expend US1.8M this year as formerly signalled by the investors. However, by the end of the first half of the year, the companies had already spent US3.3Mto train locals. This represents an increase of 83 percent, the Director disclosed.

Pertab reported that so far the Secretariat has registered in excess of 350 companies and are well on track to achieve the 500 registered companies target by the end of this year.

“We are also reviewing the Local Content Act not only to help close all potential loopholes but to further enhance prioritisation of Guyanese nationals in the supply of goods and services to the oil and gas industry,” he said.

Following the opening ceremony, Kaieteur News asked Pertab to elaborate on the additional areas the Secretariat intends to expand. However, he said it would be premature to disclose the information without first engaging stakeholders.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News