By LCN Business Desk
Rafeek Khan, President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association, named the sectors he wants to see grow at the launch of GuyExpo 2026 on Thursday: hospitality, garments, agro-processing, information and communications technology, and services generally, alongside forestry, fisheries, mining and oil and gas, News Room reported.
"As our economy expands, GuyExpo serves as a critical catalyst building and bridging the gap between potential and market success," he said. "This is your time, now is your time to showcase what you have."
The exhibition runs from 12 to 15 November at the National Exhibition Centre at Sophia, under the theme "Creating Tomorrow's Opportunities Through Today's Investments".
Where do those sectors sit in the law?
Mostly outside it. The Local Content Act 2021 reserves forty categories of work for companies that are 51 per cent Guyanese owned, and the schedule is built around the oil and gas supply chain. It runs from 90 per cent of catering down to 5 per cent of engineering, set out in Guyana's Oil Law Reserves 90 Per Cent of the Catering for Local Firms.
Hospitality reaches that schedule through accommodation and catering. Garments, agro-processing and information technology largely do not. Two gaps in the schedule have already been reported here: the software that runs a US$12.7 billion field, in ExxonMobil Bought Software to Run a US$12.7 Billion Field, and the offshore vessels, in Guyana Reserves a Fifth of Offshore Aviation Support for Local Firms.
That schedule is under revision. The Ministry of Finance's 2026 Mid-Year Report records that stakeholder engagements continued in the first half of the year and that an additional 20 areas have been identified for consideration, potentially for inclusion under goods and services. Identified for consideration is a stage before a decision.
What does a trade fair convert into?
Relationships, on the association's own account. Khan described GuyExpo as a hub for connections and said stronger strategic partnerships could help small enterprises develop products for regional markets, and position themselves for opportunities outside Guyana.
Where Guyana has moved a product beyond its own market, the route has run through processing rather than raw output. A Lusignan pepper sauce was launched in Doha under a national branding theme, reported in Guyana's President Launched a Lusignan Pepper Sauce in Doha. The constraint at the other end of the chain is margin, which Wakenaam farmers describe directly in Wakenaam Farmers Produce Big, But Prices Squeeze Profit.
Why the non-oil sectors, and why now?
Because that is where the national forecast was cut. Guyana's economy grew 33.3 per cent in the first half of 2026 while the forecast for everything except oil was reduced, reported in Guyana's Economy Grew 33.3 Per Cent. The sectors Khan named are the ones inside that reduced number.
The financing side is moving on a similar list. The Guyana Development Bank names five priority sectors from agriculture to digital, in Guyana Development Bank Names Five Priority Sectors, and opened on 5 October, covered in The Development Bank Opens on 5 October. More Guyanese are also working for themselves, and a World Bank study found many of them chose it, in More Guyanese Are Working for Themselves.
What did the Chamber ask for in the same week?
Information. The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry president asked the government on 24 September, the same day GuyExpo was launched, for closer monitoring of foreign oil contractors and better warning of coming work. Section 11(5) of the Local Content Act already requires the Secretariat to publish an extract of every approved local content plan, reported in The Chamber Asked for More Information on Oil Contracts.
Two business bodies, one day, two versions of the same request. One asked for the reserved categories to be widened. The other asked to be told what the companies inside them have already committed to.
GuyExpo opens on 12 November. The revision of the first schedule has no date attached to it.
*Disclosure: Theon Alleyne, the proprietor of La Caribeña News, is a Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association director.*
What the title card shows
- 12 to 15 November 2026: when GuyExpo runs, at the National Exhibition Centre at Sophia, under the theme "Creating Tomorrow's Opportunities Through Today's Investments".
- Five sectors named: hospitality, garments, agro-processing, information and communications technology, and services, alongside forestry, fisheries, mining and oil and gas.
- Forty categories: what the Local Content Act 2021 reserves for 51 per cent Guyanese-owned companies, built around the oil and gas supply chain, from 90 per cent of catering to 5 per cent of engineering.
- 20 more areas: identified for consideration for the schedule in the first half of 2026, which is a stage before a decision. Ministry of Finance Mid-Year Report 2026.
- 33.3 per cent: first-half economic growth, with the forecast for everything except oil cut. The sectors named sit inside the reduced number.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where is GuyExpo 2026?
12 to 15 November 2026 at the National Exhibition Centre at Sophia, under the theme "Creating Tomorrow's Opportunities Through Today's Investments". It was launched on 24 September.
Which sectors did the GMSA president name?
Hospitality, garments, agro-processing, information and communications technology and services generally, alongside the extractive industries covering forestry, fisheries, mining and oil and gas.
Are those sectors covered by the Local Content Act?
Only partly. The Act's forty reserved categories are built around the oil and gas supply chain, so hospitality reaches it through accommodation and catering while garments, agro-processing and information technology largely do not. An additional 20 areas were identified for consideration in the first half of 2026.
What does the Act reserve at the top and bottom?
90 per cent of catering and 5 per cent of engineering, for companies that are 51 per cent beneficially owned by Guyanese nationals.