Sensitisation workshops on Sovereign Wealth Fund for June

GINA, GUYANA, Friday, May 19, 2017

The Ministry of Natural Resources will be facilitating a series of workshops to sensitise stakeholders and the general public on the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman made this announcement on Wednesday during the presentation of the findings on the feasibility of setting up an oil refinery.

“We hope to have some discussions on the legal and regulatory frameworks for the sector,” Minister Trotman explained. The workshops will be facilitated by experts from Chatham House and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

A Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) is a state-owned investment fund that is made up of surpluses from official foreign currency operations, proceeds of privatisations, governmental transfer payments, fiscal surpluses and/or receipts resulting from resource exports. These monies can be used for investment purposes to benefit the country’s economy and citizens.

Guyana’s SWF Bill was drafted by the Commonwealth Secretariat with input from the government and presented to the Minister last December. The Bill is fashioned after an international model.

Additionally, the SWF Bill holds faithful to the Santiago Principles while reflecting the unique Guyanese context. The Santiago Principles are a set of generally accepted principles and practices that reflect SWFs investment practices and objectives.

The Bill is expected to be available for public input and will be piloted by the Minister of Finance in the National Assembly later this year.

The government has been drafting new legislation and updating existing legislation to govern the oil and gas sector in preparation for oil production by 2020.

 

By: Tiffny Rhodius