Businesses urged to stay in-tuned with market demands, form partnership as BDF 2024 concludes
As the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (GCCI) Business Development Forum (BDF) 2024 concluded on November 15, the participating entrepreneurs departed the venue with some key messages from the speakers and panelists— including the importance of monitoring the market to understand where demands and gaps exist, and the benefits of partnering.
Held under the theme ‘Developing local businesses for the emerging energy sector’, BDF 2024 was a two-day event hosted at the Atlantic Ballroom, Pegasus Corporate Suites. Day Two of the forum focused on the opportunities available within the energy sector, with panel discussions that examined both the opportunities within the sector, as well as success stories and testimonials from local businesses that have successfully entered the oil and gas value chain.
Chief Investment Officer for Guyana and Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Office for Investment, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop in his opening remarks urged the businesses present not to limit their vision to just a desire to service the local market but to also examine the potential for expanding their services to the region. “Follow the money,” he emphasised as he encouraged entrepreneurs to follow the country’s development in order to track where their services can be offered. Dr. Ramsaroop stressed the benefits of partnering and forming consortiums in order to access more opportunities.
Meanwhile, Director of the Centre for Local Business Development, Dr. Natasha Gaskin-Peters, in expressing similar sentiments, stated, “We need to be aggressive in this space” as she spoke about the need to be determined and persistent in pursing business opportunities. According to Dr. Gaskin-Peters, Guyanese businesses are dominating the support services market for the local oil and gas sector, however, there are still market gaps such as within the welding and fabrication industry, resulting in a handful of businesses benefiting from opportunities in this industry. “The opportunities are not going to come to you, you have to be able to seek it out,” she reiterated. Attendees were also told of the importance of standards, compliance, and certification to the sector.
On the subject of partnerships, Dr. Gaskin-Peters also encouraged the formation of joint ventures in order to increase the pool of opportunities, saying, “Partnering helps you to share risks, it helps you to enhance your financial capacity…for local entities, you have to be very strategic as you think through how it is that you’re going to partner.”
Representatives of several prime contractors in the energy sector including MODEC, SBM Offshore Guyana, Halliburton, SAIPEM, and Guyana Shore Base Incorporated participated in a discussion during which the companies’ local content initiatives and procurement opportunities were shared. The day’s proceedings concluded with a discussion on how five local companies navigated the sector and carved out their space in the value chain, with panelists from Lodestar Incorporated, Excel Guyana Incorporated, Shaws Investments, Cyril’s Transportation Services, and Rafeek and Moore Customs Brokerage Firm.
