GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat, says the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo next month is becoming one of the premier energy sessions in the world and will showcase multiple sectors in the country’s economy.
“This conference is important for our local private sector to network, to engage, [and] to build partnerships with international companies because that is something that as a government we advocated for from the inception. Since we took office in August of 2020, we have always said that we need to bring more opportunities to Guyanese and Guyanese businesses,” Bharrat said of the February 19-22 event.
The conference, which is expect to attract more than 21 countries, with close to 200 exhibitors, and 30 sponsors, will be held under the theme “Fueling Transformation and Modernisation”.
Bharrat said Guyana is one of two countries that are currently considered hotspots in the energy sector, but the country is far more advanced in the development of the sector, compared to Namibia, which is the other hotspot country.
“By the time of the conference on the 19th of February we will be producing comfortably at 600,000 barrels a day on average. At the last energy conference, we were about 380,000 to 390,000 barrels per day, so a lot has happened from the last conference to this one,” Bharrat said, adding that an uptick in production signifies opportunities for the private sector to provide goods and services.
“Having the traditional productive sectors being incentivised, and the government continues to showcase and bring investment into those sectors it is critical to balancing our economy and we have done that exceedingly well over the last three years.”
The Expo’s chief executive officer, Kurt Baboolall, told reporters that the conference will be attended by the Prime Ministers of Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, and The Bahamas, as well as the head of state of Suriname, and Dominican Republic at the opening ceremony.