In this webinar, panelists examined US policy towards the Caribbean during the first year of the Biden Administration, with a focus on notable issues in need of attention and the opportunity to discuss these issues when the US hosts the Summit of the Americas in June 2022
Presenter
Sir Ronald Sanders
Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organization of American States
Download the Working Paper presented by Sir Ronald Sanders here.
The transitional governance structure agreed to in mid-April through the mediation efforts of Caricom and direct support from the United States faces profound challenges, but at minimum provides a baseline framework that Haitian political and civil society actors can build from — and that the international community, notably the US, can provide targeted support for. What are the mid to longer term prospects for the Presidential Council governance agreement to meet its goal of transitioning to an elected government by February 2026?
The Guyana Business Journal (GBJ) & Caribbean Policy Consortium welcome you to Season II, Episode X of their Transforming Guyana Series, on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at 10:30 AM EST.
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Guyana Business Journal Webinar Highlights the Role of Education and Community Engagement in the Oil & Gas Era
April 11, 2024—The Caribbean Policy Consortium and Guyana Business Journal’s latest webinar, “Transforming Guyana: Season II, Episode XI, Community Engagement in the Era of Oil & Gas,” aired on April 10. It brought together influential voices to discuss the pivotal role of education and community engagement in Guyana’s burgeoning oil and gas sector.
Riyad Insanally, the former Ambassador of Guyana to the U.S., emphasized the foundational importance of literacy for STEM development. “The future of Guyana is in the hands of our young people,” Insanally stated, underscoring the need for basic skills as a prerequisite for higher-level skill development and the economic participation of the youth in Guyana’s future.
Karen Abrams, founder of STEMGuyana, highlighted the critical need for early exposure to STEM concepts to build a robust educational pipeline. “We are a developing nation with massive infrastructure imperatives,” Abrams remarked, pointing out the necessity for young talent in driving innovation and diversifying the economy beyond the oil sector.
Terrence Blackman, founder of the Guyana Business Journal, addressed the human capital requirements for engaging with the oil and gas discoveries. “Technology skills must be at the cutting edge,” Blackman noted, advocating for community engagement to strengthen societal relationships, build trust, and promote resilience.
The webinar underscored the transformative power of education and the need for a diverse, skilled workforce to navigate the challenges and opportunities the oil and gas industry presents. The speakers collectively called for a focus on the basics of education, the involvement of youth in STEM, and the broadening of economic benefits to all sectors of society.
Riyad Insanally, Former Ambassador of Guyana to the U.S.
Terrence Blackman, Founder, Guyana Business Journal
Quotations:
Riyad Insanally, Former Ambassador of Guyana to the U.S.
“If you can’t read and write, there can be no STEM development. We’re looking at the imperative of training and upscaling our young people, even while we look at older generations. The future of Guyana, and this is not a cliché, is in the hands of our young people.”
“As Guyanese we are all aware of the transformative power of education, but there are challenges. There’s no point in talking about developing skills at the high level if those basic skills are lacking.”
“If we’re going to talk about the transformative period in the development of our country, then we’ve got to go back to the transformative power of education and go back to basics.”
“Without STEM, there will be no innovation, no entrepreneurship, no equitable participation in the economic development of Guyana.”
Karen Abrams, Founder, STEMGuyana
“Learning sticks to learning. The earlier you get children exposed to concepts – whether it’s in literacy or numeracy – the easier it is for them to pick up additional context as they move through the educational pipeline.”
“We are a developing nation. Not only are we trying to develop the oil economy, we have infrastructure imperatives – road, water, sewage, internet…We need talent in order to conduct this massive infrastructure development that has to happen here in Guyana.”
“It is important for us to have young people in these roles so we can strengthen our economy and diversify it. You don’t do innovation without young people who are involved in STEM.”
“We have to find a way to ensure that those who are not directly in the oil and gas sector can also benefit from decent wages. It’s an issue that needs really key attention, and it shouldn’t be politicized. It’s almost like a human dignity issue.”
Terrence Blackman, Host and Founder, Guyana Business Journal
“For us to be engaged in oil and gas discovery, there are people skills that have to be in place. Technology skills have to be in place at the cutting edge to be able to responsibly, safely deliver these oil and gas resources to Guyana.”
“This discovery of hydrocarbons has really opened up opportunity for the possibility of Guyana being a major oil and gas producer globally. It has boosted our economic development from that of one of the poorest countries in the Americas.”
“The question of the resource curse is one which is real, and we have to think about how we deal with the broad diversification of our economy in a way that allows us to manage the shocks that come from this increasing outside pull that oil has.”
“When we think about community engagement, we’re thinking about a collaborative process of working through groups of people for mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources. The key objective here is strengthening relationships across the society, building trust across the society, promoting really sincere collaboration, increasing collective self-efficacy and resilience, and addressing the wellbeing of our people.”
“It’s key for us to understand that the vast majority of Guyanese are not small businesses that can participate in the value chain, so people sitting in the service sector and public sector have to be thinking about how we can broaden the benefits of this resource.”
Guyana Business Journal and Caribbean Policy Consortium Webinar Sheds Light on Fiscal Strategies for Guyana’s Oil and Gas Era
In a compelling episode of the Guyana Business Journal & Caribbean Policy Consortium’s webinar series, “Transforming Guyana, Season II, Episode IX: Guyana’s New Wealth: Fiscal Strategies in the Oil and Gas Era,” leading economists and experts gathered to discuss the fiscal policies and strategies pivotal for navigating Guyana’s burgeoning oil and gas sector. The webinar aired on February 14, bringing together a distinguished panel to explore the challenges and opportunities presented by Guyana’s new wealth.
Insights from the Panel
Samuel Braithewaite from the Department of Economics at UWI Mona emphasized the importance of robust institutions in avoiding the resource curse. He highlighted the need for economic growth to translate into tangible improvements in the lives of Guyanese people, stressing that economics is fundamentally about people.
Thomas Singh, Director of the GREEN Institute and Senior Lecturer at the University of Guyana, raised concerns about the sustainability of growth and the importance of human capital and technology investment. He also noted the challenges posed by the country’s balance of payments deficit.
Collin Constantine of Girton College, Cambridge, pointed out the necessity of focusing on the non-oil primary balance to understand the fiscal position in the oil discovery context. He underscored the institutional constraints in Guyana and the importance of neutral fiscal policy on diversification.
Bright Simons, Founder and President of mPedigree, discussed the strategic organization of natural resources and the learning opportunities from global experiences in managing base erosion, cost inflation, and profit attrition.
Justin Ram, CEO of Justin Ram Advisory Associates, highlighted the oil and gas sector’s pivotal role in Guyana’s economy and the urgent need for investment in public infrastructure. He advocated for sustainable development by efficiently using oil and gas revenues.
Anthony Bryan, Senior Fellow at the Institute of International Relations, UWI, remarked on Guyana’s critical juncture and the potential for fiscal expenditure to increase domestic inflation, stressing the importance of learning from the experiences of others.
Terrence Blackman, Founder of the Guyana Business Journal, envisioned a future where economic growth benefits all Guyanese, emphasizing the need for equitable and sustainable redistribution of oil and gas rents.
A Path Forward
The webinar underscored the complexity of managing Guyana’s newfound oil wealth, highlighting the importance of institutional strength, sustainable development, and equitable growth. As Guyana stands at a crucial juncture in its economic transformation, the insights from these experts provide a roadmap for navigating the challenges and seizing the opportunities ahead.
For access to the entire webinar episode, please visit:
Program
Speakers:
Samuel Braithewaite, Lecturer, Department of Economics, UWI Mona
Thomas Singh, Director of the GREEN Institute & Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Economics, University of Guyana
CollinConstantine, Assistant Professor and Official Fellow of Economics at Girton College, Cambridge
Bright Simons, Founder of mPedigree and Vice President at IMANI Africa
Justin Ram, CEO, Justin Ram Advisory Associates
Anthony Bryan, CPC Co-Chair & Fellow, Senior Fellow, Institute of International Relations, UWI
Terrence Blackman, Founder, Guyana Business Journal
Quotations:
Samuel Braithewaite, Lecturer, Department of Economics, UWI Mona
“When I think of fiscal policy in Guyana, my mind turns to institutions…To avoid the resource curse, we have to be very careful with regards how we deal with institutions, how we deal with the rules of the game.”
“When we talk about economic growth and GDP and so on, economics is about people. If you’re unable to show how all these lofty growth rates are contributing to an improvement in people’s lives, then you’re not doing right by them.”
Thomas Singh, Director of the GREEN Institute & Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Economics, University of Guyana
“The question arises, ‘What are our sources of sustainable growth?’ What if our oil disappears? Would we have the human capital to replace that oil? Have we been investing in technology?”
“Guyana has been running an overall balance payments deficit…It is probably one of the reasons why we aren’t noticing an increase in the Bank of Guyana net foreign assets because [the Bank of Guyana] has to be using up international reserves to meet the deficit.”
CollinConstantine, Assistant Professor and Official Fellow of Economics at Girton College, Cambridge
“If we want to understand the fiscal position of any government with oil discovery, we need to look at the non-oil primary balance as a share of non-oil GDP.”
“There are well-known institutional constraints in countries like Guyana. Ultimately, whether we have oil wealth or not, fiscal policy should aim for neutrality on banks’ diversification ratio, the change in government deposit balance at the central bank or the monetary base, the foreign exchange market, and Central Bank independence (end Bank of Guyana financing of the deficit).”
Bright Simons, Founder and President of mPedigree
“I subscribe to the “institutional imagination” viewpoint. There are so many different ways a society like Guyana can organize its natural resources, including petroleum. No policy or regime is cast in stone as far as best practice is concerned. Regardless of development level, all countries grapple with this heterogeneity of best practices. Guyana needs to have the moral and intellectual courage to interweave the best ideas from all over to create its own best-fitting, optimal vision.”
“You [Guyana] are already fighting over cost accounting issues, just a few years after the onset of first oil. That already tells me that there is massive room in Guyana to learn from us, peer countries near and far, who have been dealing with this “cost oil” and “profit oil” issue for eons around the world. We have tremendous experience with these issues – from base erosion and cost inflation to profit shifting and value attrition, name it, we have seen it all.”
Justin Ram, CEO, Justin Ram Advisory Associates
“Guyana’s economy is primarily driven by the rapidly growing mining and quarrying sector…Specifically, the oil and gas sector since the discovery of substantial oil reserves offshore Guyana in 2015 and 2018.”
“In all other types of economic activities, we find most value added is distributed to workers as wages and to owners as profits. However, when it comes to oil and gas distribution of rents within the country, those rents go first to the government who will then need to redistribute them through public spending.”
“Guyana is in urgent need of intensive investment in public infrastructure, particularly in areas such as roads, electricity and clean water. I think with the oil and gas resources, this can be a way for the government to spend those in a way that provides efficiency and helps facilitate economic activity in other sectors.”
“We need to focus on how we drive sustainable development through the efficient use of the revenues coming from the depletion of oil and gas resources so that we maintain, and indeed grow the country’s capital base.” Investing in human capital is critical, i.e., education and health investment, combined with a competitive economy so that individuals can turn their investment into tangible rewards (sustainable income, consumption).”
Anthony Bryan, CPC Co-Chair & Fellow, Senior Fellow, Institute of International Relations, UWI
“Guyana is at a crossroads at this point. This is really the crux of how Guyana goes ahead.”
“Accelerated fiscal expenditure will increase domestic inflationary practices, potentially creating a great deal of stress within the Guyanese environment and internationally.”
“Guyana can learn from the mistakes, or the successes, from others that went before.”
Terrence Blackman, Founder, Guyana Business Journal
“We want to improve economic, social and security conditions, creating more equitable and diverse opportunities for all Guyanese. And ensure a harmonious, resilient and flourishing Guyana where every citizen benefits from its economic growth – regardless of background or beliefs.”
“In this era of significant economic transformation, particularly in the burgeoning oil and gas sector, Guyana stands at a really crucial juncture. The dynamics of fiscal policy within this evolving landscape present profound challenges and remarkable opportunities.”
“You have these [oil and gas] rents go to the government. The government has to redistribute them, but it has to redistribute them in an economically sound, stable, sustainable manner. And how do you do that? That’s the question we are trying to answer.”
Transforming Guyana Webinar Explores Guyana’s Journey to Becoming a Top Choice for Investors
The Guyana Business Journal (GBJ) and the Caribbean Policy Consortium recently hosted Season II, Episode VIII of their Transforming Guyana webinar series. The episode “Guyana’s Journey to Becoming a Top Choice for Investors” featured insightful discussions from industry experts.
Guyana, a nation on the cusp of transformative change, finds itself at a crossroads, with a burgeoning oil and gas sector reshaping its economic landscape. Yet, as David Lewis, Vice President of Manchester Trade Ltd. Inc., rightly points out, the future prosperity of Guyana relies on a broader perspective. To truly prepare for growth, Guyana must diversify its investment climate beyond oil and gas, creating opportunities in various sectors.
Terrence Blackman, Founder of the Guyana Business Journal, stresses the importance of partnership in engaging the diaspora and attracting investors. It is crucial to shift from a conflictual approach to one that fosters collaboration and mutual benefit.
The head of the Diaspora Unit, Rosalinda Rasul, emphasizes the need to harness skills from both within and beyond Guyana’s borders. Engaging the diaspora to fill skill gaps and energize the country is a strategic move towards sustainable development.
Joel Bhagwandin underscores the significance of addressing the skills deficit and mismatch, recognizing that Guyana’s rapid development requires a skilled workforce capable of meeting international standards.
Stacey Mollison, President/CEO of Libra Management Group, highlights the importance of engaging the younger generation and tapping into their innovation and unique perspectives.
Finally, Patricia Francis calls attention to the need for improved governance and institutional clarity to create a conducive environment for business growth.
Guyana is on the precipice of tremendous growth, with immense economic diversification and development potential. However, the journey is fraught with challenges that require cooperation, skill development, and a clear regulatory framework. The nation’s ability to overcome these obstacles will determine its success in building a resilient and prosperous future beyond oil and gas.
The Transforming Guyana webinar series provides valuable insights into the development of Guyana’s oil and gas industry, focusing on safety, sustainability, and responsible practices.
For access to the full webinar episode, please visit:
Speakers:
RosalindaRasul, Head of Diaspora Unit Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation Guyana
JoelBhagwandin, Director, SphereX Professional Services | Commissioner, Public Procurement Commission, Guyana
Stacey Mollison, President/CEO Libra Management Group
Patricia Francis, Chairperson of Trade Facilitation Task Force and former Executive Director ITC
David Lewis, Vice President, Manchester Trade Ltd. Inc. & Co-Chair, Caribbean Policy Consortium
Terrence Blackman, Founder, Guyana Business Journal
Quotations:
David Lewis, Vice President, Manchester Trade Ltd. Inc. & Co-Chair, Caribbean Policy Consortium
“We need to start looking at the investment climate and economy in Guyana, to a certain degree, beyond oil and gas…and the fact of really preparing the country for growth in a variety of sectors.”
“The problem with setting up business and setting up financing and bank accounts in Guyana remains extraordinary. We are beginning to see it as a disincentive, particularly for small companies and for the Diaspora coming in trying to set that up as a key requirement to be a bonafide business there.”
“This is work in progress. You’re building a brand-new country, from where it was before.”
Terrence Blackman, Founder, Guyana Business Journal
“Many observers can find places for criticism, but if you take this view of what’s happening in Guyana in the broad sense, these macroeconomic fundamentals seem to be in place to make it a very attractive destination.”
“We are often – in our approach to this business of Diaspora engagement, the business of investor relations with Guyana – prone to a kind of conflictual relationship. If we aim for partnership, then this is not an unreasonable way to pursue this.”
RosalindaRasul, Head of Diaspora Unit Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation Guyana
“When you talk about Guyana having a very small population and then it’s taking off at a massive growth rate, you will need a lot of skills. We can choose to run after projects or initiatives that is not exactly what would have a great impact on the country, or we can choose to engage the Diaspora in a way that will really help to reenergize the country and take it where it needs to go.”
“In 2023, we started a conversation at the national level with private sector and public sector stakeholders on the shortages of skills in the country…that ended with the commitment to form a manpower unit which will be managed by the Ministry of Labor that will look into the shortages and labor needs of the country.”
“All of these companies are coming to the [Diaspora] Unit basically to say that ‘We have positions. There are some that we can’t find the skills in Guyana, we would like to utilize the services of the Unit to reach into the global Diaspora.’”
JoelBhagwandin, Director, SphereX Professional Services | Commissioner, Public Procurement Commission, Guyana
“International investors are always concerned primarily with political risks in the market in which they are contemplating to invest. Now, we are not only looking at geopolitical risk at a domestic level, but broad geopolitical developments.”
“Our development journey that is being ramped up, that is being accelerated at a very rapid pace today, it started three decades ago. It started at a time where we had tremendous economic and political challenges. There was a time when we were a bankrupt economy.”
“The main challenge as of now, in terms of investors and the private sector, is the skills deficit that we have, and it is a two-fold challenge. One, we have a skills deficit, a shortage of skills we need in all the sectors. Two, we have a skills mismatch, meaning that we have people actively looking for work, but of the jobs that are available, they don’t have the skills and competencies to match that.”
Stacey Mollison, President/CEO Libra Management Group
“Our goal is to continue to engage people. Now we’re looking at not just the Guyanese Diaspora, but how do we continue to build and grow this. You start with awareness, you come in-country, you connect with the stakeholders and then you help those people who are serious about engagement.”
“It’s not just about our contemporaries, but we have to engage the young people because they bring innovation and ideas and a whole way of viewing coming into Guyana as second generation…I don’t think we do a good enough job of engaging the Millennial and Gen X population.”
Patricia Francis, Chairperson of Trade Facilitation Task Force and former Executive Director ITC
“The IMF has just come out with their report on Guyana and are indicating that they should probably have growth of about 26.6% this year…Of that, they are seeing that about 6.6% will be from the non-oil and gas domestic sector.”
“Guyana has not really been doing very well when you look at the indicators by the World Bank, looking at the business environment. There seem to be still confusion with respect to multiple ministries that are overlapping in terms of regulatory responsibilities, and investors report they receive confusing messages from various officials. Clarifying this and the whole business of building institutions is critical and important.”
Transforming Guyana Webinar Explores Pathways to a Safe and Sustainable Oil and Gas Industry
The Guyana Business Journal (GBJ) and the Caribbean Policy Consortium recently hosted Season II, Episode VII of their Transforming Guyana webinar series. The episode “Developing and Enforcing a Regulatory Framework for a Safe and Sustainable Guyanese Oil and Gas Industry” featured insightful discussions from industry experts.
The panel of esteemed speakers included:
Thomas B. Singh, Director of the GREEN Institute & Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Guyana. David Lewis, Vice President, Manchester Trade Ltd. Inc. & Co-Chair, Caribbean Policy Consortium. Terrence Blackman, Founder, Guyana Business Journal.
The webinar delved into the challenges and opportunities of shaping a robust regulatory framework for Guyana’s burgeoning oil and gas sector. Here are some thought-provoking quotations from the event:
Summary
Thomas B. Singh emphasized the importance of aligning institutional outcomes with societal goals, stating, “Instead of asking ourselves what the outcome of our current sets of institutions will be, we should instead say here are the outcomes we’d like to see. What are the institutions that are going to give us those outcomes given certain things that we know, certain parameters that we know about a regulated entity, the oil company.”
He also highlighted the role of social norms in ensuring compliance with regulations, adding, “It is far easier in any society for there to be the observance of rules and the adoption of new rules if there are social norms that support that process.”
David Lewis underscored the importance of drawing from global experiences in regulatory frameworks, stating, “This is not nuclear physics. We have troves of experiences around the world of setting up regulatory frameworks in different industries, including oil and gas that Guyana can benefit from.”
He emphasized the need for investing in human resource development and skills to effectively manage regulatory oversight, saying, “This regulatory overview requires investment in human resource development and skills development. This will not happen by AI. This has to be people who are trained and prepared to be able to manage all of these different interests and information.”
Dr. Lewis also commended the younger generation for embracing economic and political freedom, noting, “Guyana is an emerging market not only in terms of what economics means by an emerging market, but also in the social, political, and cultural understanding of what a free-market economy is.”
Terrence Blackman highlighted the critical challenge of minimizing the environmental impact of oil and gas activities, saying, “This is the central challenge of our time. Ensuring that responsible practices emerge to minimize the environmental impact of exploration and production activities.”
He emphasized the need for collaboration between the state and regulated entities, stating, “There really needs to be a less confrontational stance between the state and the regulated entity. We think that this is in the interest of business.”
The Transforming Guyana webinar series continues to provide valuable insights into the development of Guyana’s oil and gas industry, focusing on safety, sustainability, and responsible practices.
For more information and access to the full webinar episode, please visit:
“Instead of asking ourselves what the outcome of our current sets of institutions will be, we should instead say here are the outcomes we’d like to see. What are the institutions that are going to give us those outcomes given certain things that we know, certain parameters that we know about a regulated entity. The oil company.”
“It is far far easier in any society for there to be the observance of rules and the adoption of new rules if there are social norms that support that process. If on the other hand, our society is at a different place, operating at a different pace, trapped in norms that are relevant for a country and an economy that never had oil, then the order of magnitude, be it in the court room or on the streets. . .of ensuring that laws are followed and that the regulatory framework is the sort of framework that will deliver on our vision, that that becomes incredibly more difficult. . . We need to have supporting norms in society and we don’t necessarily have that.”
David Lewis
“This is not nuclear physics. We have troves of experiences around the world of setting up regulatory frame works in different industries, including oil and gas, that Guyana can benefit from.”
“This regulatory overview requires investment in human resource development and skills development. This will not happen by AI. This has to be people who are trained. Prepared to be able to manage all of these different interest and information. . . not only in the oil and gas sector but it has to be managed in banking, in financial services, in construction.”
“Guyana is an emerging market not only in the terms of what economics means by an emerging market. It is an emerging market in the social, political, and cultural understanding of what a free-market economy is. . . what’s stimulating is, when I see of the young generation, the under forties, how they have embraced this new freedom of economic and political space to do things differently than what their parents, and their grandparents, and what their great grandparents had to do.”
Terrence Blackman
“This is the central challenge of our time. Ensuring that responsible practices emerge to minimize the environmental impact of the exploration and production activities, mitigating potential oil spills, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. . . I still don’t see the emergence of the regulatory infrastructure that’s necessary to manage these challenges that are on the horizon and will be challenges that we must address at some point in the future.”
“There really needs to be a less confrontational stance between the state and the regulated entity. We think that this is in the interest of business.”
The UWI, Institute of International Relations and The Caribbean Policy Consortium are pleased to invite you to an upcoming webinar, “Latin America-Caribbean Relations in a Multipolar World”, on Thursday, 30th November from 5-7 p.m. The seminar will explore the state of the Latin America-Caribbean relationship in the context of a shifting global order where a variety of actors dispute spheres of influence and dominance while remaining closely interdependent in the world tapestry.
