MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (CMC) — President David Granger has extended an invitation to Caricom member states to invest in the oil sector and other sectors of Guyana.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 39th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) here recently, Granger said, “The vision that I have for the Caribbean Community is that all parts of the Caribbean must see this new resource as parts of the community, and they should be willing to share their expertise with us and they should be willing to invest in it. I would like to affirm that the doors of investment, the doors of infrastructure, the doors of information technology, the doors of innovation will be open to our colleagues in the Caribbean.”

The president also placed on record his Government’s willingness to collaborate with stakeholders in Trinidad and Tobago’s oil and gas industry as Guyana becomes a major oil producer with first oil expected in 2020.

“As you know, Guyana is still putting in place the legislative framework, the regulatory framework; we are looking to recruit skilled persons in that sector. It is still too soon to tell. I look forward to sworking with the Caribbean. Trinidad has a long-established oil and gas industry and I would feel that our Caribbean colleagues would be able to participate in everything that Guyana does — agriculture, timber, gold, diamond mining,” President Granger disclosed.

Following eight major oil finds, ExxonMobil is set to begin production in early 2020.