This Webinar Series focuses on US-CARICOM Trade and Investment Relations Webinar 1: US Entities involved in US-CARICOM Trade and Investment Policy
Speakers:
Stephen Lande (Manchester Trade)
Ambassador Anton Edmunds (St. Lucia)
Jason Marczak (Atlantic Council)
Ambassador Patrick Duddy (Director, Duke University Centre International / Global Studies)
Moderator: Dr. Jan Yves Remy (Director, SRC, UWI)
Upcoming Webinars:
Webinar 2: The Business Opportunities for the Private Sector
Webinar 3: The US-CARICOM Trade / Investment Council University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus Shridath Ramphal Centre – International Trade Law, Policy and Services United States Embassy – Bridgetown Barbados Caribbean Policy Consortium
Join Global Americans and the Caribbean Policy Consortium, with support from the U.S. Embassy in Suriname, for a virtual event on social and economic development in the Caribbean. Panelists will discuss the role of oil and gas in the economies of the Southern Caribbean, the emerging threat of climate change, and how civil society, the private sector, and governments can provide solutions to the region’s challenges.
Panelists
Mavrick Boejoekoe, Founder of the Youth Education and Leadership Foundation (Suriname)
Scott MacDonald, Research Fellow at Global Americans
Trisha Tannis, Chairman, Barbados Private Sector Association
Oslene Carrington, CEO, Guyana Economic Development Trust
Moderator
Guy Mentel, Executive Director of Global Americans
Date: Wednesday, December 1 Time: 11:00 A.M. EST Location: Virtual
Professor of International Business, Florida International University
Siddharth Upadhyay, Research Consultant
Summary
Guyana’s dynamic and rapidly progressing oil and gas development can create boundless opportunities, which is the intent of local content policy (LCP). However, there has been an information vacuum related to the LCP—its rationale, structure, and pathway to implementation. Fortunately, the government of Guyana has addressed this shortcoming and produced a draft Local Content Policy. While the document has produced a reasonable policy framework, the LCP is jeopardized by a rigid compendium of local content targets that are questionable in their derivation or may be exceedingly difficult to attain.
It is urgent, therefore, that the government address and remedy the shortcomings of its LCP. After all there are many positive features of the LCP including: preferred access and opportunities for Guyanese; the need for good governance for the LCP to succeed; the need for appropriate legislative support for successful policy implementation; and engagement of the Guyanese diaspora as a vitally important resource.
You can access Dr. Jerry Harr’s Report “Strategic Considerations for Local Content Requirements in Guyana’s Oil Sector” HERE
University of the West Indies & Caribbean Policy Consortium
Dr. Terrence Blackman
Editor, Guyana Business Journal
Medgar Evers College, City University of New York & Guyana Business Journal
Moderator
Dr. David Lewis, Caribbean Policy Consortium & Manchester Trade Ltd. Inc. (Moderator)
Key Quotes
“I have great faith in the capacity of Guyanese to meet this challenge. What worries me is if Guyanese institutions aren’t able to fully hold to the path that is necessary in order to do this. I hope that these opportunities will be strengthened.” – Dr. Terrence Blackman
“We know that the government’s goal is maximum quality and benefit of participation in the petroleum sector value chain by Guyanese. We see real positives in terms of preferred access and opportunities for Guyanese, in the emphasis on good governance, the appropriate legislative support for successful policy implementation and the engagement of the Guyanese diaspora community.”– Dr. Jerry Haar
“The private sector—local and foreign—along with the public sector should be working closely together to assist local firms in meeting the technical requirements for oil services and equipment.” – Dr. Jerry Haar
“We are not going to be able to function effectively as a society as a small oligarchy and this is where I think these institutions like UoG and others have a role to play. And this is one place where I must commend the current government.” – Dr. Terrence Blackman
Podcast, Understanding the Global Minimum Corporate Tax, in GlobalTradeLaw, July 12, 2021 https://youtu.be/i8ZUeLLzSm0
Changes in international regulatory regimes on Caribbean corporate, financial, regulatory and transparency law, OFFSHORE INVESTMENT (Part I, Jan. 2016) and Part II (Feb. 2016) (see attached PDFs).
IMF Report on Loss of Caribbean Correspondent Bank Relationships Shows Lack of Level Playing Field, Tax Notes International, Nov. 13, 2017.
Tourism: The Orphan of Caribbean Policy, Journal of Travel Research 24 (Winter 1988) (co-author with Louis Emory
Whirlpool in the Caribbean Community: the Services Sector in 1993 and Beyond, 6 Caribbean Affairs 84-96 (Apr.-June 1993
February 1, 2022, Book Launch, Panelist and Contributing Author, “Oil Dorado? Guyana’s Black Gold”, https://youtu.be/W16jk0BdSZY
Is there a future for the oil and gas sector within the Caribbean’s Blue Economy? Chapter 14 in The Caribbean Blue Economy. P. Clegg, R. Mahon. P. McConney, H. Oxenford (eds.) Routledge, 2021
September 9, 2021, “The Caribbean Blue Economy.” Panelist, The United States and the Caribbean: New Opportunities for Strategic Engagement. CPC, IIR, UWI Webinar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_BdftlfeZA
September 2, 2021, Panelist. “Security in our hemisphere: A look at the U.S. southern border and the intersection of diplomacy and development in the security context.” Institute for Defense & Business, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill https://www.idb.org/security-in-our-hemisphere/
2019, Anthony Bryan, “The whole picture: Oil and Gas exploration in the Caribbean,” Oil Dorado: Guyana’s Black Gold. John Mair and Neil Fowler (eds.) Goring, U.K.: Bite-Sized Books, Ltd. Pp 87-92
*June 2020, “American Foreign Policy in the English-speaking Caribbean: From the Eighteenth to the Twenty-first Century.” New York: Palgrave Macmillan.https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030459857
“A Global Americans Interview with Gaston Schulmeister, Director of the Organization of American States Department Against Transnational Organized Crime”, Global Americans, May 20, 2021.
