Suriname president outlines plans for closer collaboration with Guyana, Brazil | CBR

Suriname President Chandrikapersad Santokhi Tuesday said his country, Brazil and Guyana will pool their gas resources to support to facilitate the socio-economic development of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the three-day International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana, Santokhi told more than 120 oil and energy executives as well as the heads of governments from Barbados and Ghana that his country’s “sustainable benefits go beyond our borders and see cooperation with Guyana and Brazil.

“We have the same goal and commitment to our current and future generations,” he told the conference, adding ‘as responsible leaders, we must look ahead, far ahead and if we do not start now, we will not only be left behind but we will waste opportunities”.

The head of State of the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country said that Guyana and Suriname now have a historic and unique obligation to manage their oil resources well with adherence to internationally recognised and accepted environmental standards.

He said this should be done while creating a sustainable energy future in keeping with the theme of the conference, “Charting a sustainable energy future’ and that while enormous investment is needed it also requires that countries work together.

“The question now is how do we make that transition utilising our newfound resources wisely with modern technology to lay a solid foundation or a more diversified economy for generations to come?”

Santokhi said that apart from the pandemic, global financial risks, climate change and also the looming global instability as a consequence of political conflict will have an impact on energy generation demands, flows and prices.

“It is not only that we must transition from one energy to a cleaner and renewable one but also we must consider how energy itself will transform our lives and economies as we go forward,” he said, adding “I believe Suriname and Guyana with this new resource can help to mitigate global energy poverty which makes it difficult to develop productive lives”.

Santokhi noted, however, that in charting this transition Guyana and Suriname will recognise others that have gone before and profited from revenues to develop a modern economy and create a future path for economic development where oil and gas will no longer play a significant role.

— CMC