Dear Editor,
Foreign companies bring in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and skills into Guyana. They can help develop Guyana. But, their primary objective is, and remains, profits for their shareholder/s. Don’t blame foreign companies for lax successive Governments. For starters, foreign and local companies need to obey Guyana’s employment Laws. They need to have a Local Content Policy which means more jobs for local Guyanese. They need to pay local Guyanese the same as they would their foreign counter-part for doing the same job. They need to contribute to Guyana’s treasury through taxation.
Let’s face up to facts. Guyanese know practically nothing about oil extraction and do not have the finances to develop oilfields. At the same time, Guyanese are not stupid. We can learn as can be attested to by numerous successful Guyanese. What we lack is the opportunities in Guyana. As an example, should someone decide to manufacture electric cars in Guyana, we would need foreign workers to train local Guyanese in car manufacturing. Foreigners are not the problem. The problem is when they opportunistically seek to exploit us with the acquiescence and complicity of our Governments. Yes, to FDI and skills; no to exploitation.
Sincerely,
Sean Ori
