Consortium to be established for local chefs to tap into oil and gas industry

Guyana could soon see local chefs directly benefitting from the oil and gas sector, with the establishment of a consortium of cooks supplying food and food items to Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessels (FPSOs).

His Excellency, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Sunday disclosed that he has called for the formation of the body, to prepare chefs from across the country to tap into the massive opportunity.

“I have instructed the Minister of Natural Resources to work on bringing together a consortium of all our major caterers in the country into one company and let them buy the management skills, whether it is international or regional so that together in a consortium, they could participate in the bidding process to provide all FPSOs offshore with food and food supplies.”

The president emphasised that local enterprises must come together to create consortiums to better position themselves to access economic opportunities.

With the right type of integration, through consortiums, Dr Ali said there will be room for massive growth. He pointed out the need to form consortiums to create necessary local linkages. 

Dr Ali noted that the economy’s immediate requirements are to develop sustainable choices for Guyanese, improve their quality of life, and open up job opportunities. The move will also guarantee Guyanese have equitable access to opportunities.

“These are services that are externalised because we have to learn to work together. We cannot operate in a mega economy if we don’t bring together consortiums. We bring ten small people together, we have a medium company, we bring ten medium people together, we get a large size company. So, we are going to use this mechanism, this network to bring this country together, as part of the ‘One Guyana’ umbrella.”

By using this approach, Guyana will also strengthen its economy, encourage industrial growth, boost local company capacity, develop a trained labour force, establish a competitive supplier base, and distribute the wealth created by the oil and gas boom to Guyanese citizens.

The president said this kind of unity is what the nation needs to advance and requires the involvement of all Guyanese.

He said he intends to build a future of equal opportunities for the growth of every citizen regardless of location.