Local industry capable of arranging any level of insurance our oil and gas contractors may wish

Dear Editor,

The Insurance Association of Guyana [IAG] and the Guyana Insurance Brokers’ Association [GIBA] are the two representative bodies of the local insurance underwriting and intermediary industries. We have noted with extreme consternation the reported utterances of one Mr. Arthur Deakin, purportedly an “International Consultant”, on matters pertinent to the latest draft of Guyana’s Local Content Policy [LCP]. (Kaieteur News November 22, 2021).

This gentleman, whose academic background is Political Science, has taken upon himself to pronounce upon the complex issues of “capacity” of the local insurance industry in opining that the latest Draft LCP was unrealistic, inter alia, with respect to Insurance.

The IAG and GIBA which represent virtually 100 percent of the local industry, have never been consulted by Mr. Deakin. Nowhere within his reported utterances was it revealed what research was conducted as to the ‘capacity’ of the local insurance industry. Does he care to expand on what he understands to be Insurance Capacity within the complex context of the risk transfer mechanisms of Insurance, Reinsurance, and Retrocession? What did Mr Deakin compute was the ‘capacity’ of the local industry versus the required ‘capacity’ that guided his conclusions? Maybe, Mr. Deakin would care to expand by directing us to where we may access his research.

It is beyond the scope of this letter to go into more technical detail. However, the IAG and GIBA have articulated to our LCP policymakers and insurance regulators our position as to what extent Guyana’s Oil and Gas [O&G] risks could be handled by the indigenous industry. We have presented to them our model for the best approach to LCP participation for the indigenous insurance industry.

In a nutshell, once our model is established, the local industry is easily capable of arranging any level of insurance our O&G contractors may wish. We may start out as intermediaries and small participants in actual risk retention, but nothing stops us from handling the gamut of insurance needs.

To this end, the IAG and GIBA members have already developed the necessary technical resources and established linkages with the world’s leading players in O&G Insurance, all of whom are ready and willing to work with us.

The IAG and GIBA therefore roundly reject what is evidently uninformed and unscholarly opinion making, especially in relation to matters of crucial importance to local industries. Sincerely,

R Leitch

For Insurance Association of Guyana. Guyana Insurance Brokers Association.