City chamber, Go-Invest sending team to Offshore Technology Conference

Nicholas Boyer flanked by executive member of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce, Charles Ramson Jr (left)., and another member of the business body.
Nicholas Boyer flanked by executive member of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce, Charles Ramson Jr (left)., and another member of the business body.

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry has teamed up with the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), to send a team to the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in May, to not only sell Guyana, but to secure business and investment opportunities for small entrepreneurs   here.

 “I really want to sell this because this is about selling the country as a destination event for everything we can do for business, directly and indirectly in the oil and gas industry,” Senior Vice President of the GCCI, Nicholas Boyer, stated at a press conference on Friday.

“There is going to be a lot of spinoffs. You are going to need hospitality, entertainment and other spinoff services here and we need to get our people connected to the wider world,” he added.

This is the 50th year of hosting for the not-for-profit conference, which is sponsored by 13 other organizational bodies such as the Oceanic Engineering Society, the Marine Technology Society and the American Society of Civil Engineers, among others.

 “OTC gives you access to leading-edge technical information, the industry’s largest equipment exhibition, and valuable new professional contacts from around the world. Its large international participation provides excellent opportunities for global sharing of technology, expertise, products, and best practices. OTC brings together industry leaders, investors, buyers and entrepreneurs to develop markets and business partnerships,” the OTC website states.

This year at the conference, the OTC says that there will be an ‘Around the Word’ series, which will feature Guyana.

“Monday through Wednesday, OTC will feature a new program called the “Around the World Series.” Global industry leaders will discuss new licensing and business opportunities, as well as recently introduced technologies.  Hear the latest information from principals representing:  Australia, Norway, Mexico, France, United Kingdom, Israel, Canada, Ghana, and Guyana. Travel the world with OTC and never leave Houston,” the website states.

Boyer said that the GCCI was tasked with getting 10 companies, comprising members of other local private sector bodies, to team with Go-Invest as part of Guyana’s contingent and booth at the event. He said that so far, some seven local companies are confirmed while they await a final decision from another two.

He stated that GCCI would not be limiting the focus of the visit to any single particular interest. “There was some conversation that we didn’t have a singular focus. We are not trying to narrow in too much at this stage, it is just trying to say Guyana is here at this stage. At that conference you will have a lot of main players in the oil industry demonstrating. The core aim of our trip is learn a little from the conference and do a lot of networking,” Boyer explained.

He said that he is hopeful that from the associations formed at the event that there can be “the joint ventures, mentorships, the partnerships and maybe the investments and trade relationships developing between Houston and Georgetown”.

“There is some of that already happening but we want to accelerate that and bring some down to the small entrepreneurial level, to release the barrier to enter so to say. I want to make the Chamber that access point for you. Maybe someone has a janitorial service and may want to expand that janitorial service. How do they do that? Maybe someone there wants that service when they come as provider here. I want to get that through the Chamber; get that know-how. I am sure other business organisations will have a similar desire,” he added.

He said that the pace with which Guyanese businesses prepare and operate are a reflection of the Chamber and while there has been a lot of interest in the burgeoning oil and gas sector by entrepreneurs, they need help and guidance. “There has been a lot of interest. The oil industry is coming with standards different to what we are accustomed to and we need to bridge that gap. The interest is there but you are not getting the translation into actual dollars. It is through the education…and networking these businesses that have the interest, that they will learn how they can release the barrier to get across the hurdle and start now selling a product,” he asserted.

“If they are slow is a reflection on us, we take it as our mission to push our members to not be slow. I don’t think they are slow but I think there are barriers and we will help them push those barriers to get out there,” he added.

 

No politics

And while the GCCI supports the calling for a swift resolution to the current political impasse since the December 21st No Confidence Motion that fell the APNU+AFC government, Guyana’s contingent of business persons in Houston will not discuss politics at the forum and will focus only on business advantages and tapping into opportunities. 

“You can expect politicians to do what they have to do with their industry…we are pressing ahead despite what is going on in the political sphere because this opportunity is Guyanese. The resource is Guyanese, the dollar that is going to spent we want it to be in Guyana currency. There is a real and present risk of it being spent elsewhere. I am not going to a group and say I wear this or that colour [party] shirt and this is what is going on. I am going to that group and gloss over that because I expect the politicians to address it. As a business person my mandate is to market the country and that is what I am going to do,” Boyer said.

“The opposition leader and the president, they are in their industry they are going to behave according to the dictates of the industry. I expect my industry and business to behave according to the dictate, which is: ‘I want more funds coming into my country and I expect to do as much things, such as trade missions, networking events, information seminars, etcetera, to get my people who are Guyanese, more business,” he added.