The second Guyana International Petroleum Summit and Exhibition (GIPEX), was hosted at no financial cost to the national coffers. This is according to the Managing Director of Valiant Business Media, Shariq AbdulHai. The company is based in the United Kingdom (UK), was the organiser of the three-day event that concluded this afternoon at the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.
While intimating that such an event would cost somewhere in the vicinity of US$500,000, Shariq said the investment is minuscule compared to the benefits that would be accrued.
He said that Valiant will be able to recover its expenses when relationships are fostered between local and private companies. The forging of these relationships via joint-venture and other investment opportunities were the very impetus behind the launch of GIPEX last year.
The Director said that “a lot of negative things” have been circulating in the media regarding the funding of the event. Be that as it may, he told the Guyana Standard that, “the government does not contribute financially to the holding of this event. And this is not something that we are doing in Guyana – it is the industry standard…We take care of all associated costs without any financial burden on the government. I can promise you that you’re not paying a penny.”
Shariq said that not having government pay a cent, is a “strategic move” by the company because Valiant will be able to recover more than its investment. He went on to state that Valiant will continue to host GIPEX, and make it even better next year.
Questions were also raised regarding booth pricing, which were deemed by some as “too exorbitant”. Shariq said that more consideration will be put into booth pricing in the future to cater for start-up companies. He noted that some arrangements were made to facilitate reasonable pricing for local companies, however, last minute attendance confirmation and non-availability of space were some of the major kinks in the event planning. These issues, he said, will be better addressed in the future.
He nevertheless expressed optimism that next year’s event will be “bigger and better” as Guyana’s oil and gas sector gains momentum.
The conference opened last Wednesday and concluded today. The exhibition will be open to the public tomorrow, although some persons were seen entering the exhibition site shortly after the conclusion of the conference.
Valiant Business Media worked in collaboration with the Department of Energy, Ministry of the Presidency, with support from Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), to host the event. These government agencies, according to Shariq, “lent their support” to the enterprise.
