Ghana and Guyana hold bilateral talks on oil, gas, trade & investment
Ghana and Guyana, a South American country with rich deep-water oil field discoveries, have held bilateral talks aimed at deepening the cooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas sector, in addition to trade and investment.
The chief economic assets of only the English-speaking country of South America, Guyana, have been its natural resources, mainly its pristine rainforests, sugarcane plantations, rice fields, and bauxite and gold reserves.
It has been noted that the country’s economic fortunes changed dramatically in 2015 with the first of a raft of rich deep-water oil field discoveries in its offshore Stabroek Block.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and Vice President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, held a bilateral talk over the weekend, as Mr Jagdeo begun his three-day visit to the country.
He assured Guyana of Ghana’s readiness to share her experiences and development agenda with the country, as they all seek to better the lives of their citizens.
He thus, said, Ghana would continue to develop and enhance cordial and mutually beneficial relations with friends both near and far, with the ultimate aim of accelerated development and improved livelihoods.
Recalling the long-standing relations between Ghana and Guyana and the similarities in their histories, the Vice President, Dr Bawumia, said, Ghana remained a bulwark for peace and democratic development in the West Africa subregion.
Dr Bawumia underscored that given the emerging opportunities, particularly in the energy sector, greater cooperation would serve as a catalyst for trade and investment for both countries.
As a sign of Ghana’s readiness to provide practical experiences, the Vice President presented a large, bound folder detailing the origins and implementation plans for the government’s Agenda 111, designed to make health care accessible and affordable at the lowest level of society.
For his part, Mr Jagdeo, said, “we are here to listen and learn, and given your experiences in the oil and gas sector, I am sure we have come to the right place,” adding that the ongoing cooperation was testament to how well the two countries could work together and learn from each other.
“We want to deepen our cooperation beyond the oil and gas sector, to trade and investment in each other’s country. We want to learn from you in the areas of agriculture, digitisation, health, especially your Agenda 111, and infrastructure development,” he stated.
Among other objectives, Vice President Jagdeo and his delegation were in Ghana to learn about the country’s experiences in the oil and gas sector, with particular reference to local content and participation, the legal framework, and general best practices in exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon finds, having discovered hydrocarbons on a large scale in 2015.
During the visit, technical teams from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Petroleum Commission, Ghana Gas, Energy Commission and other stakeholders in the energy sector will be engaging their counterparts from Guyana to share ideas and exchange learnings.
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