DURING THE OPENING President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons of the fourth International Business Conference spoke clearly on Tuesday: oil and gas extraction alone will not make Suriname prosperous. Everyone knows this by now, but the head of state once again put his finger on the sore spot by stating that economic diversification is a strategic necessity to prevent the country from falling into the classic resource curse.
Her emphasis on strengthening agriculture, tourism, establishing the Local Content Board and protecting biodiversity demonstrates an economically sound and necessary long-term vision. It is an analysis that this newspaper shares.
As long as the Surinamese bureaucracy remains notorious for corruption and cronyism, foreign parties will continue to have cold feet.
The crucial question, however, is: how realistic are all these intentions? Although the vision is theoretically very strong, it collides head-on with the harsh Surinamese practice of administrative slowness and institutional weakness. A painful example of this is the status of crucial legislation. The president indicated that work on the Investment Law and the CETA law is currently underway, but completion is not expected until 2027.
At a time when the international energy sector is gaining momentum and investors are now demanding clarity, this legislative pace is simply too slow. It illustrates the deeper problem of the Surinamese government: a chronic lack of decisiveness and efficiency to quickly translate ambitions into applicable law.
The president also addressed the need to combat corruption and strengthen the rule of law. This is undoubtedly the most critical point. Investors look for predictability and integrity. As long as the Surinamese bureaucracy remains notorious for corruption and cronyism, foreign parties will continue to have cold feet.
The establishment of bodies such as a Local Content Board is an excellent instrument on paper, but in practice there is a risk that such institutions will get bogged down in extra administrative burden instead of actually strengthening local entrepreneurs.
The ambition to have Surinamese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) join the billion-dollar oil and gas industry also lacks a solid reality check. Many local companies suffer from a lack of capital, certifications and specialist knowledge. Calling on international investors to actively transfer knowledge is noble, but without an aggressive national incentive and training program from the government, this remains a one-sided wish.
Geerlings-Simons has identified the right goal and that is positive and hopeful. But as long as the government cannot achieve the transformation into a transparent and corruption-free apparatus, its words will never be translated into action. Above all, the success of her policies will not be measured by the laws that may be ready in 2027, but by the tangible change that is still lacking today. And what society is so eagerly looking forward to.
