The Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity, has said it believes that while oil revenues have created new opportunities for growth, the future of Guyana cannot built on the oil sector alone.

The APNU believes there is a need for more focus on a balanced economy being built.

“The reality is clear: oil-related job growth will eventually slow as the sector becomes more capital-intensive, automated, and dominated by specialized expertise. The PPP/C government is failing to adequately prepare Guyanese workers and businesses for this inevitable transition. Instead of building a balanced economy with strong productive sectors, the government has relied heavily on oil revenues, imported labor, and short-term infrastructure expansion while neglecting sustainable, long-term employment creation in our traditional sectors”, APNU Member, Lamumba Angoy said.

Mr. Angoy said Guyanese deserve permanent high paying jobs, thriving industries, and economic opportunities that can sustain families for generations, noting that the APNU believes that Guyana’s true long-term prosperity lies in unlocking the full potential of the country’s non-oil economy with the agriculture, forestry, mining and manufacturing sectors being key in that area.

“The size of Guyana’s non-oil GDP was G$829.930 billion in 2024 and was projected at G$860.287 billion in 2025. Non-oil GDP grew by 13.1% in 2024, with projected growth of 13% to 13.8% in 2025 and 10.8% in 2026. These figures show that the non-oil economy has real potential, but that potential must be developed into jobs, industries, and opportunities for Guyanese. Data from the Bureau of Statistics indicate that the service sector accounts for almost 60%, agriculture for 15%, construction for 10%, mining for 12% and oil and gas for 3% of the labor force. We need to move the forestry and mining sectors away from raw-material extraction and develop the other sectors while using oil revenues wisely to build productive national capacity”, he said.

Angoy said the Government needs to look into untapped areas and focus on the job creation in those areas.

He pointed out that many of the country’s resources are not receiving adequate attention.

“We have vast timber resources capable of supporting a modern wood-processing and furniture manufacturing industry. Our extensive mineral reserves can support value-added mining and downstream processing. Our fertile agricultural lands can produce large-scale agro-processing, value-added food exports, and improved regional food security, which is critical given the implications of the recent war and the shipping crisis. We have eco-tourism and cultural tourism opportunities that are still significantly underdeveloped. Our young population can drive a modern services economy that tends to offer higher-wage jobs”

It was explained that the APNU’s job development strategy focuses on creating sustainable employment across all regions of Guyana by investing directly in productive industries and ordinary Guyanese workers. The opposition party believes there should be an adoption of that strategy.

Related posts:

President to pursue more oil exploration while diversifying economy under new Government Non-oil economy also recording significant growth -says Pres. Ali Economy records 14.5% growth in first half of 2021; Non-oil economy see 4.8% growth Benefits of oil sector will filter through the entire economy -Head of Energy Dept.