Project cases

Suriname is a country with great potential. Traditionally agriculture has been a key industry, together with mining, livestock and fishing. But just recently Suriname’s potential grew even more with the discovery of oil off the Surinamese coast. Together with neighbouring country Guyana, Suriname could make huge steps in a short time.

Suriname was a Dutch colony until 1975 when it gained independence. The population of Suriname consists of a diverse group of ethnicities and cultures. With approximately 27% of the Surinamese population the Surinamese Indian population is one of the largest groups in the country. After a long time and an exhausting campaign, Chandrikapersad (Chan) Santokhi became the President of Suriname on the 16th of July 2020. He reached Indian national television and was mentioned by the Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi when he took his oath using the Vedas. Because of this new wave of politics in a barren system the doors have been opened for international investors, but Indian investors and Indian businesses have an edge as one of the largest ethnic and cultural groups of Suriname are of Indian descent. Right now there are two big opportunities to step in and both include agriculture.

The first project is a deforestation and farming project on a piece of land at 30,000 ha (74,131.61 acres) in the western district of Nickerie. After deforestation, the land will be used for agriculture. Nickerie is the agriculture district of Suriname with the country’s largest rice producers in this district. 

There is one condition to the tender in Nickerie. Whichever investor or business takes on the project of deforestation and farming out the 30,000 ha of land in Nickerie will have to commit to upgrading the local airport in order to make it compatible to host small jets and helicopters. The reason for this is that the oil fields on the seas of Guyana and Suriname will be exploited and platform crew will have to come into Nickerie and fly off to the offshore platforms via Nickerie Airport.

Suriname has an extensive mining industry. Historically aluminium was produced here to help the Allied forces during World War II but gold has become a more prominent metal in mining. After the departure of the Suriname America Aluminium Company the Aluminium mines were left but there still is a chance of exploring and exploiting these mines as it is expected that there is enough soil for at least another 80 years.

The new President of Suriname also announced that the gold industry will be reassessed and that only after providing assurances that

Suriname is a carbon neutral country. With the right investments in the Energy sector, Suriname could become a carbon negative country and sell its carbon emission rights to other parties. There are opportunities in this sector.